Olympique Marseille president Pablo Longoria flew into London to meet William Saliba’s agent for dinner on Monday, according to a report.
Saliba has shone for Arsenal in their pre-season tour of the USA, but the Frenchman has never played a competitive game for the Gunners in the three years since joining from Saint Etienne in 2019.
Last season, the centre back made 36 appearances for Marseille on loan, helping the club to secure a Champions League spot and make the semi-finals of the inaugural Europa Conference League.
And Fabrizio Romano has revealed on Twitter that Longoria has spoken to Saliba’s agent with a view to tempting the 21-year-old defender to move on a permanent basis.
It is also believed that Saliba attracted the interest of Barcelona because of his sterling work with Marseille, being named Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year.
However, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said he thinks Saliba will be play an important part for the Gunners in the years to come, and have no interest in letting him go.
After Saliba’s involvement in Arsenal’s 4-0 friendly win over rivals Chelsea in Orlando, Arteta insisted that the young defender was ‘ready’ for Premier League football.
Arsenal’s manager said: ‘I am really pleased to see the way he is playing, the way he has adapted to the team, the maturity that he’s shown at 21 years old.
‘We will keep developing him, he has a huge potential. He is already a top player and we have to make him even better.’
Saliba received his first call-up to the French national side in March of this year, to cap off a stellar year with Marseille.