16 March 2024 , 20:30
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Arsenal could be forced to block Thierry Henry's bid to select William Saliba for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris as the defender's involvement could prevent him from being available for the start of the 2024/25 Premier League season.
France U21 boss Henry is due to manage Les Bleus at the tournament this summer and he will be tasked with selecting a squad of 18 with four reserves, however, only three of those players can be over the age of 23.
World Cup winners Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud are hot favourites to make the cut while crucially, Saliba would qualify as an U23 player.
French Football Federation president Philippe Diallo has urged Henry to go all guns blazing, recently stating: "Our aim is to build the best team possible."
However, there is a catch because Arsenal have the power to refuse Saliba's release as the tournament is not recognised by FIFA, though as the Games are in France - the lure of winning gold on home soil could carry weight for those selected.
Saliba was previously picked for the 2021 Games in Tokyo but he later withdrew from the squad as he did not wish to miss a large chunk of Arsenal's pre-season as part of his bid to win over Mikel Arteta following a loan spell with Nice.
Paris Saint-Germain superstar Mbappe has already publicly outlined his desire to represent his country, telling television station France 3: “I hope I'll be there. Everybody knows I always dreamt of playing at the Olympics.”
The situation is also somewhat complicated by this summer's European Championships in Germany with Saliba among those expected to be selected by France boss Didier Deschamps.
William Saliba helped Arsenal reach the Champions League quarter-finals in midweek (Getty Images) The competition runs from June 14 until July 14 and those that feature will require an additional period of rest before reporting for pre-season with their respective clubs.
Meanwhile, the Olympic Football Tournament runs from July 24 to August 9 with the final scheduled just one week prior to the potential 2024/25 Premier League opener on August 16.
If Saliba is involved and France go the distance - it will almost certainly hamper his chances of being involved from the get-go with Arsenal next term.
Notably, Liverpool previously refused to release both Ibrahima Konate and Mohamed Salah for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Legendary Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson also blocked Javier Hernandez from featuring at the London Olympics with Mexico in 2012.