Arsenal: William Saliba transfer ‘problem’ not a problem at all

With all the seasons on pause, William Saliba’s Arsenal loan has become unclear, but there’s nothing problematic about this. It just needs clarity.

You just gotta love sensationalism in the midst of the doldrums. With every major league on pause, Arsenal headlines are running askew with any little tidbit they can pick up on. I get it. I poke around Transfermarkt, WhoScored and all the rest, looking for a morsel of something to report.

Someone beat me to the minor revelation that William Saliba‘s loan move at Saint-Etienne was supposed to end at the end of June, leading into an official welcome at the Emirates the first week of July.

Now, the headlines are spreading like wildfire, “Arsenal face Saliba transfer problem.” Yet no one has anything to say about what that problem is because, well, there is no problem. It’s just a catchy headline.

The question is what would happen if the season paused for so long that it wouldn’t be over in time for Saliba to run up his loan. Would he stay past that loan date in Ligue 1 to finish the season or cut the loan short and join the Gunners before the season ends?

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It really doesn’t matter either way. Option A, which is probably more likely, is that the Gunners will modify the loan to mean the end of the season, whenever that may be. Thus allowing him to stay in Ligue 1 for the full duration of the season, as was expected when the deal was made.

The only reason it would go the other way is if we were in a serious spot of desperation and needed a defender, but that could sour any future relations with Saint-Etienne. Plus, barring a wave of injuries, it’s not a likely situation.

Or we could just be royal dicks and claim the guy on July 1st because that’s what the writing says. Not that it would be the worst thing in the world, we’re just following the contract, but a lot of people are being forced to make exceptions with the current state of the world, so I don’t see why our Arsenal would do any differently.

It’s not a big deal. Like I said, either way, this is won’t thing that probably won’t be affected. Why would it be? There’s no reason to get worked up over a nonfactor, and this is certainly more a nonfactor than a “problem.”