William Saliba's January loan move to Nice was 'clever' from Arsenal and not a form of punishment for the defender, according to former club star Bacary Sagna.
The 20-year-old centre-back has yet to feature for the Gunners first team in a competitive fixture since sealing a £27million move from Saint Etienne in 2019.
The France U20 international spent the whole of last season at the Ligue 1 side as part of the deal, but after returning to north London was left out of Mikel Arteta's Premier League and Europa League squads for the first half of the current campaign.