Chris Wheatley has adamantly insisted that Arsenal defender William Saliba is not available by any means this summer.
The Gunners moved to seal the centre-back’s signature in the summer of 2019 for a substantial fee, but he is yet to be given his debut in the senior side.
Saliba was initially allowed to stay with St Etienne after an agreement was made to bring him to North London, but after a limited pre-season last summer, manager Mikel Arteta decided he wasn’t ready.
The 20 year-old was an unused substitute on two occasions, once in the League Cup and once in the Community Shield, but that is as close as he got to making his senior debut, before leaving to return to France on loan in January.
Saliba has again impressed in a key role, this time for Nice, and expectation is that he will again return to Arsenal before a decision is made on his squad position in North London.
Chris Wheatley, who regularly shares breaking news for Football.London, insists that Saliba ‘won’t be leaving’ Arsenal this summer, where he will get his opportunity under the Spanish boss.
William Saliba will return to Arsenal in July where he will get an opportunity to impress in pre-season.
He isn’t for sale and won’t be leaving #AFC this summer. 🛑 #Saliba
— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) May 27, 2021
Will Saliba quickly adapt to the vigours of the Premier League? Will David Luiz’s departure open the door for Saliba to slot straight into the first-team?
Patrick
Good news!
I can only hope this report has some validity, but in lieu of the fact that there are seemingly constant rumours swirling about our supposed interest in acquiring other CBs and Saliba’s potentially strained relationship with our present manager, as things usually don’t bode well for any player caught in his crosshairs, I’ll believe it when I see it
William Saliba has shown during his loan stint at Nice that he has the speed, height, physicality, passing range and aggression to do well in the EPL. Given his age, barring injury his career can only improve going forward.
Should Arsenal under Arteta not give Saliba opportunies to play this season, it will cast further doubts on the mentality of the management of this Club. One fears that because Saliba was a Mislantat/Emery signing, Arteta will reject him. Hopefully the appointment of Richard Garlick will add some expertise and maturity to decision making.
If he is good enough, fits the way the team plays and has the right ethos he will play.
It’s nothing to do with who signed him. Arteta has demonstrated that he considers his options carefully and does his best to optimise what is available. His decision making is sensible and mature. This does not however mean that he cannot make mistakes.
I would also argue that he is a very tactically aware manager; as good as anyone in the premiership.