Watford and Brentford are among the favourites to sign Arsenal defender William Saliba on loan, according to ESPN.

The centre-back arrived at London Colney this summer with the expectation that he would be in contention for first team action straight away but, despite the club paying £27m to sign the 19-year-old, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta feels the player simply isn’t ready to play in the Premier League.

Arteta sees Saliba as having two major deficiencies in his defending. He needs to reduce his tendency to dive into tackles, while he also requires more coaching on how to defend properly from set-pieces.

A return to Saint-Etienne for a second loan spell was on the cards but a move could not be finalised before the transfer deadline last week. It means a temporary switch to a Championship team is his only other option, with the domestic window shutting on Friday next week.