William Saliba has returned to Arsenal after his successful season on loan at Olympique Marseille last season.
The Gunners signed the defender in 2019 from Saint Etienne, but he is yet to kick a ball for them.
He has been sent out on loan to Nice and OM, where he has thrived.
In his last loan spell, he proved his worth and won a league-wide award for his performances.
He is now expected to break into the Arsenal team for this campaign, and he has joined them in their preparations for the season so far.
Mikel Arteta will have a look at him in the preseason and decide on his future, but most fans expect that he has done enough to get a chance at the Emirates.
However, he has interest from several clubs and some of them are more than happy to add him to their squad in this transfer window.
The Independent says he will remain at the Emirates for the start of this season, but if he is not guaranteed playing time, he could ask to leave.
Just Arsenal Opinion
Having watched him last season, many fans want to see Saliba succeed at the Emirates.
The Frenchman was signed because he is clearly talented and he has proven that while spending time on loan outside the club.
However, he needs to also prove he can deliver in the Premier League in this campaign.
Unfortunately Arteta isn’t used to rotation as practised by his mentor and Klopp which helps to keep all players highly valued.
It’s a big Arteta weakness.
You cannot keep a player like Saliba who is vying for a spot in the french teram on the bench all the time. So it makes sense to ask to leave.
We didn’t have the team to rotate….With Saliba however it’s possible….
Saliba definitly up grades this defense….
@Pires
We did have the team to rotate, until the coach sent vital players out on loan, sold one and ignored other players until injury crisis dictated he play them. Even then he chose the “square peg in round hole approach”…
👍NY.
NY Real talk!!!
It’s good to have 3 CB’s fighting for those 2 spots, and hopefully Arteta will drop someone when their form dips.
No one should be walking into starting lineup, and not a single player in our squad is “World Class” and undroppable.
Competition is good for players, motivating them to continue improving or lose out to someone who is.
Antangana is 100% right!! Arteta will keep the same 11 (barring injury) without a care when their form drops.
I can understand Saliba’s problem – this is not someone that can be handled by a rank inexperienced manager. He loves Ben White (he did not purchase Saliba) so it has a lot to do with that, and ben white will be chosen come rain come shine.
I do feel Saliba has greater potential than White who had an ok season but not good enough. I think Saliba is better but he may never get the opportunity to prove that.
it is terrible to say this, but if Ben White is injured for the first couple of weeks in the new season and Saliba plays out of his skin, he might be retained.
You somehow need the luck Ramsdale had. He came in as a number 2, but Leno was so shocking at the start of the season, and that gave Ramsdale his chance. Willian was dirt poor for a long time and Smith Rowe only had his chance because Willian was away in Brazil, and the rest became…as they say….history.
This manager has no clue who his best players are so he tends to start with what he’s used to. I don’t think training guides him. Even if Saliba performs better in training, he still picks White.
With the right manager I think we have a potential world class defender in our hands, but we may never see it in an Arsenal shirt.
I think another problem is Joe 71 is that Saliba was not signed by Arteta .
But he’s the manager and it’s all down to him if this season we fail miserably again to get top4 .
I’m intrigued to see what this genius as up his sleeve as we have heard it for the last 3 years how good he is so should be a doddle this season seeing how much money he as spent .
It’s true every manager has their favorites, whether due to trust, skill set, or whatever metric the manager uses.
It would be foolish to assume a starting pairing at CB in my humble opinion.
Gabriel can get emotional and lose his head, and White too often is caught out; ball watching or out of position.
I’d love to Saliba given chances, and I think he will beat out White if the manager opens the spot up.
Saliba has shown growth, experienced managers rate him highly as quotes have shown, let’s see if Arteta does as well.
OT. Is it true Omari Hutchinson is set to be signed by Chelsea?
How true is this guys?
Very much true I am gutted as well
Arteta could try a back 3 in preseason which could accommodate Saliba, Gabriel and Ben white after all he still has holding as back up on the bench…IMO
If you visit the Arsenal website, you will read what Saliba ACTUALLY thinks and says.
He tells us that he watched every single Arsenal game last season, in order to see how we play.
He tells us that he is excited to be with the players in the USA.
He tells us that he has spoken with Mikel.
He has no negative thoughts and certainly doesn’t say that he will leave if he doesn’t get playing time!!!
Why is this RUBBISH given any space at all?
I share Ken’s sentiments. We were told Saka is in no hurry to sign a new contract, but what he is actually saying today is different to what the media said earlier in the window.
All we can do is discuss what is in front of us, but the truth eventually comes out.
You obviously haven’t read what Saliba has said about being back at Arsenal about an hour ago. He’s bloody delighted to be back!
yea mate, this is what Declan was talking about i think
https://www.arsenal.com/news/saliba-last-season-was-good-i-want-more
……I hope the nonsense around Gabriel is also a lie.
Saliba has just stated he is happy to be back and wants to be here, given a chance he will move Ben White out of that RCB but Ben can also play where xhaka does so not all doom and gloom plus can play RB… he’s our £50m Chambers or what he thought he could be, utility man.
Sad note is that true Omari is away to Chelsea? Thought he was going to be promoted this season.
I’d also like to see the contract extensions of Saka & Saliba confirmed, both have 2 years left on their deals.
Same with the exits done and dusted asap.
His comments indicate that he was always thinking of returning to fight for a place – however, his contract only has two years to run, and it hasn’t been extended. This suggests to me that he will give it a go this year, but if he doesn’t get the opportunities (rightly it wrongly – he does have to play well when given the chance) then he’ll likely be sold next summer or run down his contract.
He’s being sensible – I wouldn’t sign a new contract in his position without having even played any games.
It’s up to arteta to give him a fair crack, and up to him to seize the opportunities – this would be the best outcome and would hopefully result in him extending his time with us