Thierry Henry has claimed that William Saliba didn’t get a fair shot at a role at Arsenal previously, but is he right to complain?
The defender has spent this season out on loan with Marseille where he has played a key role in their side throughout the campaign, and his performances have seen him earn his first call-up to the France international side.
Despite being under contract with Arsenal since 2019, he is still yet to be given his senior debut for the club, and Henry isn’t particularly pleased with his fellow countryman’s treatment so far.
“They didn’t even let him make a mistake,” TH14 told Amazon Prime (via Goal.com). “He left before an error.
“He didn’t even have the chance to compete for his place. What he is doing here is extraordinary. He was rewarded with a selection for the France team.
“Now he belongs to Arsenal, I don’t know where he will end up. We have seen that it was a little difficult for him to express himself on the subject.
“What I know is that he could have been in the Arsenal group. I am not Mikel Arteta, but I found it difficult for him. Anyway, he responded well and that’s the most important thing.”
While you could argue that Saliba could well have improved our squad, Mikel Arteta has steered our side to overachieve as things stand, even if we was to still miss out on the Champions League, while Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes has been instrumental to our progress this term.
Saliba would no doubt have struggled to battle with the duo for minutes this season, and he has fully profited from the time away this season, and that sort of experience shouldn’t be discounted at all.
It seems to me as though everything all round has gone extremely well, while the manager has been able to work with a reduced playing squad in recent months with only the PL to contend with since January, and should we return to the Champions League next season, there could well be enough minutes to go around of the aforementioned trio.
Will Arteta have to be judged on his decisions on Saliba next season? Or does anyone believe that Saliba could have played the role of White this term instead of having invested in his signing?
Patrick
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