Arsenal chief Raul Sanllehi has explained why new signing William Saliba is returning to St Etienne on loan.

The 18-year-old centre-back signed a five-year contract with the Gunners on Thursday, with Arsenal set to pay St Etienne £27m for his services.

Saliba was different, part of the deal is for him to be on loan for one year with his club," Sanllehi said.

"We are pleased about that because the level of intensity and the level of demand in the Premier League is very strong.

"He's probably too young for that yet, as I said, we need to protect our young talent. We think it will be good for him to be in a less demanding league to continue his formative period, so we'll have a top defender for a decade.

"He saw for his career path, the perfect solution for him."