Arsenal were highly motivated to sign William Saliba that they agreed deal worth £27 million for the eighteen-year-old defender and sent him back to Saint-Etienne on loan for the season despite of the vulnerabilities they were facing themselves.
And Saint-Etienne manager Claude Puel has condemned Eitnne’s decision to sell Saliba to Arsenal in the summer, labelling the move as ‘short-term’ and ‘reactionary’.
Although William Saliba has featured only six times for Saint-Etienne this campaign, Puel (who took charge of Les Verts just last month) already believes that Frenchman is the best player at his disposal despite of his young age.
Speaking to L’Equipe, Puel said: ‘It’s done, adopted and I’ve got nothing to say because it helped perform. Saint-Etienne have held their rank these past few years. Finishing fourth is a great result. Work was done in the short-term.
‘Is this model viable? I don’t think it can make the club a success. Rather than buying a ready-made player, I’d rather we buy him to develop him and help him grow.
‘It’s hard to accept that we sell our best player, a young kid, to help fill the coffers. When you have to sell your gems to round up the budget and then do short term deals to fill in the gaps, you’re being reactionary.’
Last season was Saliba’s big break through season featuring sixteen times for Etienne in Ligue 1 though his start to current campaign was delayed as hamsring injury saw him miss opening seven matches.
And during his rehab time – Saliba linked up with Arsenal squad in September and although the club believes Saliba still has some areas of his game to work upon, they think the Frenchman can post a challenge for a first-team place next season.
