Matteo Guendouzi is closing on the move to Marseille and William Saliba is expected to follow him to the Stade Velodrome.
On the deal with Matteo Guendouzi
Arsenal have been locked in talks for weeks with the Ligue 1 outfit over a deal with Matteo Guendouzi, who has not played for the Gunners since June 2020. And now an agreement has been reached for the 22-year-old, and Marseille hopes to close the deal within next week.
Matteo Guendouzi will initially join Marseille on lease for the 2021-22 season, but the deal includes a commitment to buy next summer. In total, Arsenal will receive around £ 10m for France’s international U-21. Marseille will pay £ 850,000 loan fees for the upcoming season, followed by around £ 9 million to make the move permanent in the summer of 2022.
The Gunners hope to quickly finish off the move for Anderlecht midfielder Albert Lokonga. They also negotiated a £ 8m deal with Benfica for left-back Nuno Tavares, who flew to London on Friday to complete his move to Emirates Stadium. Upon completion of this transfer, Arsenal will move forward in pursuit of 21-year-old Lokonga, who is expected to join for a £ 18 million fee.
Negotiations underway for William Saliba
Marseille and Arsenal are also negotiating a loan transfer for William Saliba, although no agreement has yet been reached on the young defender. Discussions continued over a potential deal, with William knowing he was interested in going over to the French side. The 20-year-old hasn’t played a single minute of competitive football for Arsenal since joining £ 27million from Saint Etienne in 2019.
And with Arsenal hoping to end the £ 50m move for Brighton defender Ben White after Euro 2020, William could once again find his playing options limited in the coming season. He spent last season on loan from Nice and now looks set to have another Ligue 1 campaign, negotiations between Arsenal and Marseille are set to escalate in the coming days. Newcastle has been interested in leasing William Saliba, but is in favor of returning to France.