William Saliba has been on the books of Arsenal since 2019, but the defender was deemed surplus to requirements by Mikel Arteta in the 2020/2021 season and the 2021/2022 term.
He was a key man for Saint Etienne at a very young age which prompted Arsenal to add him to their squad, but he had to spend most of the first three seasons out on loan.
Having impressed at Olympique Marseille last season and earned some individual awards for his brilliant performances, fans expected him to earn a place at Arsenal immediately.
However, Mikel Arteta does not operate that way and gave the defender chances to prove himself in the squad, which he eventually did.
Arteta has now revealed how many training sessions he took to decide Saliba is now good enough.
The Arsenal gaffer said via the Daily Mail:
‘He had an immediate impact… the first two training sessions that we looked at him and thought: “There’s huge potential here”.
‘His attitude, the way he came in and said: “I’m going to prove that I’m very good and I deserve to be here.” Without any looking back, or being shy – he was doing it the right way.’
Just Arsenal Opinion
With Saliba, Arteta proved he is a man that sticks to standards and cares less about what people think.
His handling of the defender was misunderstood, but we now see why it was the best approach.
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