Arsenal would risk breaking Premier League integrity agreement over William Saliba
The young French defender's loan spell at Saint-Etienne will officially come to an end on June 30, and that had raised hopes that he could play for the Gunners in July
Arsenal would be risking the wrath of their fellow Premier League clubs if they were to use William Saliba before the end of this season.
The Gunners are reeling from the news that centre-back Pablo Mari will be out for the rest of the campaign with the ankle injury he sustained in Wednesday night's 3-0 defeat at Manchester City.
To make matters worse, David Luiz - who replaced Mari at the Etihad Stadium - is now suspended for the next two matches at Brighton and Southampton after he picked up his second red card of the extended season in the loss at City.
That leaves Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Rob Holding as the only available senior defenders for Mikel Arteta ahead of a period which could make-or-break Arsenal's attempts to qualify for Europe.
Some Gunners fans had been hoping that 19-year-old defender Saliba could be added to that mix, especially as the Ligue 1 season has been curtailed.
The exciting teenager signed for the Gunners from Saint-Etienne for a deal that could rise to £27million last summer, only to immediately return to his former club on loan to pick up more experience.
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Saliba's loan contract was initially in place until June 30, but with Ligue 1 cancelled in April he returned to London Colney to train with his parent club.
FIFA rules state that he was never going to be allowed to play for Arsenal before June 30 as he was still technically away on loan, but an agreement struck between Premier League clubs as they discussed 'Project Restart' means that the Gunners won't be able to call on him past July 1.
Arteta's side face Norwich City at the Emirates Stadium on that date, before going on to play six more Premier League fixtures before the end of July, while they could also still be in the FA Cup.
Clubs agreed that fielding players who had returned from season-long loan deals should be prohibited as it would damage the sporting integrity of the remainder of the season, although this could be reviewed in 'exceptional circumstances'.
With three senior centre-backs fit and available for Arsenal and Luiz back from suspension before July 1, this wouldn't appear to be the case at the moment.
Saliba is set to train with the Gunners for the remainder of the campaign, but won't be available to play until the 2020/21 campaign.
