Arsenal defender William Saliba will not have his loan spell at Nice extended until the end of the 2021/22 season, according to journalist Chris Wheatley.

It was confirmed last night that the 19-year-old will move to France for the rest of the campaign, but there was talk that the centre-back could stay for an extra year. However, Wheatley claims sources close to the player say this is not the case:

❌ This report has been denied by people close to the player this morning. Saliba set to return to Arsenal once his loan spell ends. https://t.co/o80Prez8Di

— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) January 5, 2021

Saliba has had a difficult time since arriving from Saint-Etienne. He has not even made his senior debut for the Gunners despite the club having shelled out £27m on the player. After not being registered for the Europa League, and having not even made the bench for some cup games, manager Mikel Arteta has made it clear that the centre-back isn’t ready to play for the club.

After he sealed his loan move to Nice, technical director Edu confirmed that the player needed more experience after his last year at Saint-Etienne was disrupted due to injury and the curtailment of the Ligue One season.