ARSENAL’s William Saliba has joined Nice on loan until the end of the season.
The Ligue 1 side will pay no fee for the 19-year-old defender, although they are believed to be taking over the star’s £37,000-a-week wages.
Arsenal's technical director Edu told the club's website: “William Saliba is a player with a huge amount of talent and potential.
“We’re confident he will have a great career with us but we must remember that he is still only 19 years old and has a lot of time ahead of him.
"William experienced a very challenging time last year, with his playing time limited by injury and the early ending of the Ligue 1 season due to the pandemic.
"So together with William, we have decided that spending the rest of the season on loan with Nice is the best way for him to develop.
“We will be keeping in close contact with William during his time with Nice and look forward to seeing him make good progress until the end of the season.”
We’re confident he will have a great career with us but we must remember that he is still only 19 years old
Saliba cost Arsenal £27million when he signed from Saint-Etienne in the summer of 2019.
He remained with the French side for the whole of last season before finally linking up with Arsenal last summer.
But Saliba was instantly frozen out of the picture and left out of both Mikel Arteta’s 25-man squad for domestic and European action.
He was desperate to leave, with both PSV in Holland and his old side believed to be keen.
It is reported that teen had told Arteta he is ready to take a short-term move to keep his Emirates dream alive.
However, last month it was claimed Saliba wanted to stay in the UK to help him acclimatise.
But his exit has now been sealed as he heads back to France looking to re-galvanise his career.
The 6ft 4in youngster was expected to be a key player for Arteta during the 2020-21 campaign.
But his only appearances have come in the Premier League 2 and EFL Trophy.
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