William Saliba set to miss Coupe de France final for Saint-Etienne

French defender William Saliba appears set to miss out on the Coupe de France final against Paris Saint-Germain after Saint-Etienne failed to extend his loan contract from Premier League side Arsenal, Peuple Vert reports.

The Gunners signed the centre-back from Saint-Etienne last summer, but he was loaned back to the Ligue 1 outfit for the season as part of the condition for the transfer agreement.

Saliba has since been restricted to only 17 more appearances for Les Verts, having missed nearly three months of the season between November and January because of a metatarsal fracture.

Saint-Etienne boss Claude Puel had expressed hope of keeping Saliba for the Cup final this month, but his plans were dashed earlier this month following a disagreement between the sides.

Saliba has made 16 starts for Saint-Etienne during the course of the current campaign and the club are owed a bonus of €2.5m, if the teenager makes his 17th start of the season.

Obviously, the Gunners wanted the fee to be waived off and that is something which did not suit Saint-Etienne, who are experiencing losses after the Ligue 1 season was curtailed in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elsewhere, the north London side asked Saint-Etienne to put Saliba on a specific individual training regime and they wanted him to spend around 10 days at London Colney to undergo medical tests to assess his fitness.

Both conditions were declined by the French side and popular Saint-Etienne news outlet Peuple Vert has now revealed that the 19-year-old will ‘no longer play for the club after the lack of agreement’.

Saliba will definitely be disappointed with the decision, considering he had the chance to bid farewell to Saint-Etienne by playing in his first major final and potentially helping them win the trophy.

On the other hand, the Gunners did not want to suffer a financial setback because of the solitary game and the funds saved could be used as part of the summer spending spree.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com