Arsenal make decision on loaning out wonderkid after £55m transfer

Marli Salmon has signed his first professional contract with Arsenal (Photo: Getty)

Marli Salmon has signed his first professional contract with Arsenal, but there is a chance the highly-rated teenager leaves the Emirates on loan.

The Gunners confirmed the exciting news on Saturday as Salmon celebrated his 17th birthday, with the defender saying: ‘A lot of hard work that went into this, a lot of ups and downs, but I’m so proud.

‘I’m looking forward to attacking the season. I gave myself a good start, so let’s see what it holds.’

Salmon made four first-team appearances last season, including starting the FA Cup win over Mansfield, though he is yet to play in the Premier League.

The defender has been training with Mikel Arteta’s first-team and featured heavily in pre-season, when his performances were widely praised.

There is hope that Salmon, a natural centre-back who can also play at right-back, may get more senior minutes this season, especially with William Saliba and Jurrien Timber sidelined with injury.

But the England youth international was not in the matchday squad for Arsenal’s opening two games and his chances of playing have taken a further blow following the arrival of Erzi Konsa in a £55million transfer from Aston Villa.

Salmon made four first-team appearances last season (Photo: Getty)

As a result, there has been some suggestion that Salmon could be loaned out, which is now a possibility after signing his contract and turning 17.

And The Athletic report that a loan move could indeed happen but not before deadline day on Tuesday, September 1.

Arsenal’s plan is to keep their academy graduate around the first-team environment until for at least the first-half of the season, with his situation to be reassessed during the January transfer window.

Ezri Konsa has joined Arsenal from Aston Villa (Photo: Getty)

‘It’s always a good experience to be around [the first-team],’ Salmon added.