Arsenal could play 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.

Exciting teenager Saliba 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.

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.

The Mirror says 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.