Arsenal are in talks to sign sought after Saint-Etienne defender William Saliba but an agreement is yet to be reached, reports the London Evening Standard.
Unai Emery wants to bolster his defensive options for the new season but Arsenal are working off a limited budget this summer.
Saliba emerged as one of the brightest prospects in France last season after enjoying a thoroughly impressive breakout campaign for Saint-Etienne.
Reports from France emerged over the weekend suggesting Arsenal had already agreed personal terms with Saliba but they are short of the mark.
Arsenal reportedly only have a budget of £40m this summer after missing out on Champions League football for next season.
Saliba, 18, is valued at £25m and his potential arrival would take up more than half of Emery’s budget and there are still plenty of other areas in the squad to be addressed.
Arsenal have, however, made it clear they are interested in signing the France Under-19 international and they are now working on the structure of a potential deal.
Saliba made 16 league appearances for Saint-Etienne last season and garnered a promising WhoScored rating of 6.91.
Saint-Etienne impressively had a far better win ratio (69.2%) in Ligue 1 last season when Saliba started compared to when he didn’t feature from the off (40%).
