William Saliba has reportedly agreed personal terms on a potential £25million move to Arsenal, but the deal is being held up by a rival bid from Tottenham.
According to the Sun, citing and translating unspecified reports in France, Saliba wants a dream move to the Emirates Stadium, but Tottenham have made his club Saint-Etienne the better offer.
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This is looking a very tricky deal for Arsenal to complete despite at one point looking so close to winning the race for the young defender’s signature.
Goal recently claimed that Saliba was set to travel to England to finalise his transfer to the Gunners, before then returning to spend the 2019/20 season back on loan with Saint-Etienne.
The 18-year-old could, in truth, probably strengthen Arsenal’s defence straight away, so any deal seeing him go back to Ligue 1 on loan is far from ideal anyway.
AFC may at some point have to consider if pursuing Saliba is really worth their while if Saint-Etienne continue to play hard-ball like this.
Still, it would also be immensely frustrating for the north Londoners to see such a top young prospect strengthen their bitter rivals instead.