WILLIAM SALIBA finished his loan spell at Nice in fairytale fashion by scoring the winner against Lyon.
The centre-back will return to Arsenal this summer but left the Ligue 1 side a wonderful leaving present as he headed home on the hour mark to seal a 3-2 win.
Saliba joined the Gunners in a £27million deal in the summer of 2019 but is yet to make a first team appearance for the club.
The 20-year-old joined Nice on loan in January after Mikel Arteta left him out Arsenal’s Europa League and Premier League squads.
Saliba has played 22 games in all competitions for the French side but Sunday’s goal was his first.
Nice had twice come from behind when Kasper Dolberg and then Hassane Kamara cancelled out Karl Toko Ekambi’s first-half efforts.
And on 57 minutes, Saliba headed home the winner.
Amine Gouiri’s free-kick was whipped in to the far post where the defender was waiting to nod in.
Nice finished the season in ninth but they will probably be without Saliba next season, with Arteta confirming he will return to the Emirates.
The Spaniard was recently asked if the youngster could take departing David Luiz’s place in the team.
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And Arteta said: “You will see in the summer, the possible replacement.
“William is our player for sure and that’s the decision we’re going to be taking soon.
“When we finish the season we will sit down and discuss the roles of every member in our squad and how they can fulfil that role.
“After that, we will make a decision based on an agreement of the role each player is going to have in our squad.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk