Soccer-Arsenal defender Saliba joins French club Marseille on loan

(Reuters) - Arsenal defender William Saliba is set for his third loan spell after Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille signed him for the 2021-22 season, the Premier League club said on Thursday.

Saliba, signed in 2019 from St Etienne for a reported fee of about 27 million pounds ($37 million), has yet to play for the senior team.

As part of the deal, he returned to St Etienne for a season on loan while he also had a six-month loan spell with Nice last season.

"Together with William, we have decided it will be good for his continued development to spend another season on loan," Arsenal technical director Edu said in a statement https://www.arsenal.com/news/william-saliba-joins-marseille-loan.

"William joined us as an 18-year-old, and he is still only 20, so he is still developing all the time."

($1 = 0.7243 pounds)

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)