William Saliba to return to Arsenal in the coming weeks

William Saliba is expected to return to Arsenal in the coming weeks after his temporary stint with Saint-Etienne came to its conclusion.

The centre-back was purchased by the Gunners from Saint-Etienne last summer and he was thereafter loaned out to the French side for the season.

In a normal situation, Saliba would have rejoined the Gunners in July 2020 but that is expected to happen sooner after the Ligue 1 season was recently cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to RMC Sport, the 19-year-old will start training with the Gunners during the closing weeks of the campaign but won't be able to make his competitive debut until the start of next season.

The north London side are likely to strengthen the squad during the summer transfer window despite the financial impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is said to be eyeing a new centre-back, defensive midfielder and a striker, who could replace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Aubameyang is likely to be sold by the club unless he puts pen-to-paper on a new contract. His current deal expires at the end of next season.