One player that most Arsenal fans couldn’t wait to see playing for their team this season was William Saliba.
The young Frenchman was signed by the Gunners in the summer of 2019 and he was allowed to remain at Saint Etienne on loan for the rest of the season.
He was expected by some fans to arrive at the Emirates as a top player and to hit the ground running.
To be fair, Saliba missed half of last season due to a combination of injuries and the coronavirus pandemic.
Mikel Arteta considers him not ready for action for the club just yet.
The Spaniard wants him to play away from the club yet again and to complete his transition as a top defender.
Standard Sport is now reporting that because of this, he is likely to leave the club on-loan in January.
The report claims that the Gunners plan to have talks with his representatives with regards to his future.
The club will look to discuss the possible avenues that are available for him to get first-team football and be prepared to break into the Arsenal first team.
This is a real strange one, what is going on, what did we pay 28 mil for. Surely he isnt that bad we cant play him, Surely he can do a job in the cups. Was he really that far off the pace Arteta left him not feeling wanted. Another young star being given the cold shoulder. Surely he must be some good.
Will not be the first strange happening with a young player..Martinelli was benched before for injury.. This is why I am not buying the idea that Saliba isnt ready..
Exactly! Martenelli was doing great but he was never picked by Arteta! I am seeing a pattern here
Something is definitely going on that the fans are not being told the truth about. Not just Saliba but a lot of young talent is being thrown out by the club without being given a proper chance to prove themselves while the new director of football insists on giving us his old Brazilian mates who are already on the scrap heap for huge wage packages. Meanwhile the manager is struggling with fitting in so many young players with potential into his playing system of passing the ball back to the goalkeeper while expecting to win games by creating two chances per game then blame the strikers when the strategy fails,
Joe Willock, Folarin Balogun, Guendouzi, as well as Saliba are young prospects who can ball, they should be given the opportunity to replace non performing older players who continue to let the team down week after week. One of them has already decided to leave I expect more will follow
Guendouzi has racked up 5 assists in 3 games already let that sink in . ESR is a talent and Saliba was touted as one of the best in France .
Totally baffling, why all the fuss he’s been signed over a year now, play him in the league cup so he gets playing time this is ludicrous
I and many others are confused when we see how well Saliba’s partner at St Eitien is playing for Leicester did we sign the wrong player?
Just imagine signing a number 1 draft pick, a young Lebron James or even closer to home, a rookie Lewis Hamilton, and two years later, deciding to send him out on loan to complete his transition. This would be an admission of failure on our part and a blotch to our reputation as a big club. The last time I checked, our core business as a football club was still acquisition and development of talent.
Saliba is 19yo and not 29yo
he should go on a loan….
Yeah, but he was already a starter in Ligue 1 two years ago and in the Europa League one year ago. Are you telling me he’s one year later not good enough for the Europa anymore? Or league cup?
Seems to be a theme with MA and younger players(barring a few). Maybe he struggles at this stage of his managerial career to manage younger player attitudes/mentalities.
Who knows…
Certainly a mystery I cannot seem to solve. He was so much sought after by Arsenal and we all fans were so happy he was signed. He is a top quality defender and the future for Arsenal’s defence along with Gabriel. And now MA suddeenly feels he is not ready for PL, so a waste of 1 year in a young and developing players career. Whatever it is, Saliba should take to the field asap, loan or whatever, let the guy play and develop. The sooner he plays the better for Arsenal.
When it comes to young players, MA is CLUELESS. Saliba was playing at the top level in France against teams like PSG, Lyon, Marseille and Lille. Suddenly he is not ready/good enough for Arsenal? Surely if questionable characters like Bellerin, Luiz and Holding can get game time, I am hard pressed to understand why Saliba cannot! All I ever wanted to see this season was Saliba and Gabriel patnership, why can’t we see that? It’s not like our football is beautiful or entertaining. I have skipped half our matches and the rest I have barely watched half. I WANT TO SEE SALIBA!
*End of rant*
If Arteta gives him a chance to play,and then he will see his performance
Apart from the talented Foden, not many youngsters make an impression at Man City where Arteta served his apprenticeship. Some times in life you have to make decisions which may rebound on you short term, but prove to be correct long term.The irony is if Saliba turns out to be a flop, and I don’t think he will, Arsenal fans will not be pointing the finger at Arteta who had nothing to do with his recruitment.
“Some times in life you have to make decisions which may rebound on you short term, but prove to be correct long term”
Like benching Martinelli in top form…Seriously???
MA is actually a very conservative tentative manager . He lacks adventure and imagination in his coaching philosophy. Under Wenger Saliba ,Martinelli , ESR , Saka and Willock would have been given roles in cups and Europa as a way of harnessing and developing them. In 3 or 4 years they would be household names and on the brink of superstardom. Say what you like about Le Prof but he knew how to manage they young boys and get them to the top. . Ask Fabregas, Ramsey , Cole ,Walcott etc they have him to thank for the levels reached