Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta Eyes Marc Guehi as William Saliba's Replacement Amid Injury Worries

According to reports, Arsenal has shown interest in recruiting Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace to serve as a substitute for William Saliba.

After an impressive start to the season, Arsenal's hopes of securing their first Premier League championship in 19 years were dashed by a string of four consecutive winless matches in the league.

Mikel Arteta's team suffered a 4-1 loss to the reigning champions Manchester City in their recent match, which is likely to deal a significant blow to their chances of winning the Premier League title.

Arsenal's decline in form coincided with William Saliba's injury, which he sustained during a Europa League match against Sporting last month.

William Saliba has been sidelined due to a lower back injury, resulting in Rob Holding stepping in as his replacement. However, during the club's downturn in form, Holding has been on the receiving end of criticism from Arsenal fans.

Mikel Arteta has expressed concern that William Saliba's recovery process is taking longer than anticipated, leading to fears that the Frenchman may miss the remainder of the season.

"Regarding William, we still have to wait a little bit more," Arteta revealed last week. "He’s not progressing as quickly as we hoped and it is a bit delicate so we want to be certain that when we push him, he’s ready to absorb the load and the risk that we’ll take, and that’s not possible at the moment."

The Gunners have been tipped to bolster their centre-back options in the summer, with Champions League football back on the cards next season.

One player linked with the north Londoners is Palace’s Guehi.

According to the Sun, Guehi is a player that “interests” Mikel Arteta, and the centre-back could be signed as a backup to Saliba.

The 22-year-old, who has captained Palace on several occasions across his two seasons at Selhurst Park, would command a significant transfer fee however.

Guehi, who is a full England international, was signed from Chelsea for around £18million in 2021, while he still has three years remaining on his Palace deal.

Moreover, Guehi has played every single minute in all bar one Premier League match for the Eagles this campaign.

In turn, it is unclear whether he would be prepared to ditch his first-team role in south London to potentially sit on the bench at Arsenal, where Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes forging a formidable partnership this term.