Marseille are still ‘confident’ they can land Arsenal defender William Saliba on a permanent basis.
The France international enjoyed a fruitful loan spell with the Ligue 1 outfit last term.
He played 52 matches across all competitions as the French side finished second in the league and reached the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.
Saliba is set to return to his parent club for pre-season in the coming weeks and has already expressed his desire to battle for a starting place under Mikel Arteta.
Having not played a single competitive first-team game for the Gunners, there have been doubts about whether or not he is part of the Spanish manager’s plans.
Various reports in France are still reporting that Saliba could return to Marseille on a permanent basis.
Earlier this week, Foot Mercato claimed that the Olympiens are ‘ready to make a real financial effort to convince Arsenal to let go of their player’.
And now RMC Sport are reporting that Marseille are willing to commit €25m to €30m to sign the 21-year-old.
They ‘remain confident’ of completing the signing as Saliba ‘sees himself returning’ to the team he had so much success with in 2021/22.
Marseille are ‘ready to make an effort’ to capture the young defender, and his former teammate and ex-Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi has backed Saliba to return.
“William [Saliba] now has Marseille in his heart,” said Guendouzi. “I’m sure that he’ll come back to Marseille next season.
