William Saliba, here last season in the ASSE jersey, during a Ligue 1 match played in Bordeaux.

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NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP

  • ASSE, which had to compensate for the departure of Wesley Fofana in Leicester, experienced a turbulent transfer window on Monday.

  • If the Greens managed to obtain the loan of Panagiotis Retsos, versatile Greek defender of Bayer Leverkusen, they have not finalized the return on loan of William Saliba (Arsenal).

  • According to

    L'Equipe

    , the Saint-Etienne club are seeking this Tuesday to bring in Rennes striker M'Baye Niang as a joker.

The Gunners may have invested 30 million euros a year ago to recruit William Saliba, they give the impression of doing everything backwards to integrate the promising 19-year-old defender.

After preventing him from playing in the final of the Coupe de France on July 25 against PSG (0-1), at the end of his season on loan at ASSE, Arsenal has so far not allowed him to play only one match against Brighton… in the U23 championship (September 18th).

Mikel Arteta, who was not the Gunners coach when recruiting the U20 international, clearly does not count (yet?) On him in the Premier League.

Is there a team that can afford to do without Saliba and maybe even lend him?

I hope that Arsenal will have the best defense in the championship this season to justify this choice.

- The Talent Seeker (@ LeChercheurDT2) October 2, 2020

This is why William Saliba was interested in the idea of ​​finding his training club, again on loan.

“Long before the transfer window closed, AS Saint-Étienne had reached an agreement with William Saliba and accepted Arsenal's proposal for a one-season loan,” the Saint-Etienne club said on Tuesday in a press release.

However, the transaction could not be finalized before the end of the transfer market gong on Monday evening at midnight.

“Alas, all the administrative conditions could not be met in time, in England, for the finalization of the file, regrets the direction of the Greens.

The disappointment is great for ASSE and for William Saliba, particularly determined to return to the club where he had flourished.

"

William Saliba turned into a "Super Saiyan" to make ASSE dream https://t.co/PToZE3aIJP

- 20 Minutes (@ 20Minutes) April 25, 2019

Retsos was transferred for 17.5 million euros to Leverkusen in 2017

We want to believe them as the operation would have been a win-win, for a young player who risks seeing his progress hampered by a season far from the elite, as for a club seeking to compensate for the major departure of Wesley Fofana to Leicester. (for 40 million euros with bonuses).

Earlier in the day on Monday, the Greens had still formalized the arrival of another central defender, the Greek Panagiotis Retsos.

💬 "It's a pleasure to be here. It's a great team, historic, and I'm very happy".


The first words in Green of "Panos" Retsos 👇 pic.twitter.com/pm4qLYf6T9

- AS Saint-Étienne (@ASSEofficiel) October 5, 2020

Revealed with Olympiakos, where he became champion and best youngster of the season in 2016-2017, the 22-year-old was transferred for 17.5 million euros in the summer of 2017 to Bayer Leverkusen.

After a successful first season (24 appearances in the Bundesliga), the versatile Greek international played only seven professional games last season, despite a loan in January at Sheffield United (Premier League).

The Rennais M'Baye Niang as a joker?

Panagiotis Retsos, who joins Sainté for a one-season loan, with an option to buy estimated at 6.5 million euros, on Monday called the loan a "new challenge" and "a great opportunity".

According to

L'Equipe

, ASSE would also like to offer a rebound to M'Baye Niang, on whom Julien Stéphan does not count as much as the last two seasons in Rennes.

If the arrival of the Senegalese striker could not be concluded Monday evening, it could still be relevant in the coming days, with the joker formula (only between French clubs) which had notably allowed OM to recruit Valentin Rongier last year.

When we know that the Greens only count as pure center-forward Charles Abi (20 years old and currently injured) and Jean-Philippe Krasso (23 years old, ex-Epinal in National 2), that would not be luxury.

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