Arsenal receive good news regarding William Saliba’s availability

William Saliba has withdrawn from the France Under-23s squad for the upcoming 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The Athletic reports.

The 20-year-old central defender was initially named in France’s 26-man squad for the Olympics tournament but decided to opt out.

He has likely made this decision to focus on his Arsenal career and made it clear he doesn’t want another loan spell after he rejected a loan spell from Rennes.

Saliba’s withdrawal from the Olympics squad means he will be available for the preseason games that begin on 13 July which will be crucial to getting his career at Arsenal back on track.

This is good news especially for the fans who are eager to see the highly rated youngster on the pitch. Saliba joined the Gunners in 2019 from Saint-Etienne but is yet to make his competitive debut.

He has been loaned out twice to the French league and fans have continued to question Arteta’s management of the young defender.

Arsenal appear to be close to signing Ben White which decreases Saliba’s chances of getting playing time as he would have to compete with four other centre-backs.