Noel Whelan has been impressed by the performance of William Saliba while on loan at Olympique Marseille in this campaign and he believes the Frenchman will remain at Arsenal next season.
Saliba has been on the books of the Gunners since 2019, but he hasn’t been able to play for them.
Mikel Arteta believes he hasn’t developed well enough for the rigours of the Premier League and has sent him out on loan in the last two campaigns.
The defender has impressed so well this season and broke into the senior France national team in the latest international matches.
Former Leeds United man, Whelan believes that is enough to suggest he is ready to play for Arsenal.
He tells Football Insider: “He’s served his time away on loan now, three seasons.
“He’s gone out to really learn his trade and fine-tune those skills, and I’m sure Mikel Arteta will be excited to get a look at him in pre-season to see where he’s at.
“The fact that he’s pushed all the way into that France squad is really encouraging.
“It suggests to me that he’ll be competing in that Arsenal squad next season – he’s ready for that chance.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Saliba has developed well while on loan at Marseille and Arteta’s decision to send him there has now been justified.
He should be kept by the club next season, but that will not win him a place on the team automatically.
Arsenal already has a strong centre-back partnership between Gabriel Magalhaes and Ben White. He would need to work hard to break it up and earn a place.
OT. Benzema is awesome
The first header was incredible and the second one was incredibly incredible
Think there is no question that Saliba is ready to play for Arsenal next year.
After all, how can one get chosen for the French national team, be among the top defenders in his league, yet not be ready for Arsenal?
Hopefully Saliba will get his chance to honestly compete for a starting spot next year.
I don’t know how but damn emery about to beat Bayern with a team like Villarreal. The last time we managed to face that team it was 10- 2 on aggregate. It does feel great to be in a place you are appreciated. Our fans can continue to ridicule and discredit him, it won’t take away all he has achieved that our team can only dream of.
👌👍
@Kaay
RealTalk…👍🏾
If William Saliba is not nudged good enough for the premiership, then there is a problem with Arsenal, a team that conceded three goals against Crystal Palace, three against Man U two against Chelsea and many more, I still consider Gabrielle Gabriel Magalhaes the weak link in that Srsenal defence.
If he is good for France them there is a problem with Arsenal
Hope we are signing Benzema again in the next window😊
If Saliba is coming back (which I agree he should), his contract should be extended to secure his immediate future. And then Arsenal should sign a left-sided CB who can cover LB. Holding could be sold.
I’m genuinely worried about Tavares
“Arteta’s decision to send him there has now been justified.”
This statement has been repeated probably about 20 times here and it’s the dumbest statement ever. If he keeps developing so well why not loan him out next season again? I’m sure Saka would develop more if loaned to Real Madrid or Bayern, so why aren’t we doing that? Because he’s already good and will benefit the team that’s why he’s in the squad…much like Saliba would’ve for this season.
Is there any evidence to suggest he wouldn’t have improved if brought back to Arsenal last year? No
Is our squad too big? No
Would he have been more used to the EPL for next season if brought back last season? Yes
Is Arteta scared to coach players that need development? It appears so (Pepe, Guen, Mavro, Saliba, Flo, Eddie) Reminds me of those coaches that can coach a 1st team with players that are already skillful and quality but give them a 2nd or a 3rd team and they lack on the development side.
I hope we get 100% out of Saliba when/if he comes back and that he’s willing to play for the badge after 3 years on loan.
May your day be blessed. Another coach is developing a player , but it’s our coach who never gave him a chance that is getting credit. I believe Saliba wasn’t the only one that went on loan. Nelson, Niles, torreira and runnerson are all there as well, why can’t we give our coach the credit of loaning them. Salah, debrune , lukaku all developed esle were. Nobody gave mourniho credit for letting them join other team without giving them chance to prove themselves. I am not surprised anyway. Since the standard has become very low, we settle for anything nowadays. This is where we found ourselves.
I’m sorry as much as I like Ben White I don’t think he is that special at CB if I’m honest. He’s small, not a great jumper & gets bullied off the ball. Saliba isn’t any of these and can also pick a pass, play out from the bacj, tackle & read the game very well just like Ben can, if not better.
If he wasn’t our player already we would be trying to sign him this summer after the way he has played for Marseille. Silly move to let him leave just like it was Matteo Guendouzi & Dino Mavraponas for buttons.