Marseille president Pablo Longoria has reportedly met with the agent of Arsenal centre-back William Saliba for dinner in London.
Les Olympiens welcomed Saliba to the club on loan for the 2021-22 season, with Mikel Arteta not deeming the defender ready for his first-team debut.
Saliba shone during Marseille's 2021-22 season under Jorge Sampaoli, winning the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award and helping the club qualify for the Champions League.
Marseille chiefs publicly admitted their interest in signing the 21-year-old permanently, with Longoria telling reporters earlier this month: "William Saliba's story is like a love story.
"He had extraordinary performances last year with the club. He's said many times how good he feels here. That's an important thing. I'd like to thank him for what he's said about the club and the supporters. We would be very happy to have a player of that level.
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"But there is another part. It doesn't depend on William Saliba, nor on Marseille. You have Arsenal and that club has to be respected with its strategies, its ambitions for the transfer window. I would be the happiest person in the world if tomorrow we had a player of William Saliba's level."
Saliba confirmed in a separate interview that he intended to stay and make a name for himself at Arsenal, where he is under contract until the end of the 2023-24 season.
Nevertheless, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reports that Longoria and Saliba's agent Djibril Niang dined together in London, but it is not known if the France international was a topic of conversation.
Saliba is still waiting to make his competitive debut for Arsenal, but he has been heavily involved in the Gunners' pre-season preparations and started in the 4-0 win over Chelsea in the Florida Cup on Saturday.
Arteta was full of praise for the former Saint-Etienne youngster after the final whistle and publicly declared that he is "ready" for the step-up to the first team.
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"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, carry on doing it," Arteta said in his pre-match press conference.
"We will keep developing him, he has huge potential, he is already a top player and we have to make him even better. He looked ready to me today."
Saliba's agent Niang recently posted an Instagram story from Arsenal's London Colney training base upon the centre-back's return to the UK, as the Gunners try to agree a contract extension with the player.
Arsenal forked out £27m to sign Saliba from Saint-Etienne in the summer of 2019, but he has since been sent back to Ligue 1 on loan three times with Les Verts, Nice and Marseille.
Earlier this month, Sampaoli shockingly left his Marseille post after just one season in charge, with the club's transfer policy and a failure to sign Saliba permanently said to have been factors in his decision. Igor Tudor has since taken over at the Orange Velodrome.
Ben Knapton
