Saliba breaks silence after joining Marseille but was he sending a message to Mikel Arteta?

William Saliba has made a move to Olympique Marseille on loan after he failed to appear for Arsenal yet again.

The Frenchman was signed by the Gunners in 2019, but he has spent the last three seasons out on loan with including this transfer.

He had expected to be a part of the Arsenal squad last season, but he didn’t play any senior team match in the first half of the campaign.

He then joined Nice in the second half and he was one of their starters almost immediately after he joined them.

He impressed and ended the campaign with glowing remarks, yet that was still not able to convince Arteta to keep him at Arsenal this season as a part of his squad.

The defender has now joined Marseille on another season-long loan deal and he will be keen to impress to earn a place in the Arsenal squad if he ever returns to the club.

During his unveiling, he spoke about his new manager whom he said called him and explained what they expected of him.

It what appears to be a dig at Arteta, he said Jorge Sampaoli wanted him in his team and says he has ways of progressing under the former Sevilla boss.

Saliba said to Marseille official website as quoted by Mirror Football: “We spoke. He wanted me in his team. He explained to me that even though I am a good player now, I had a lot of things to improve.

“With him, I will have ways of progressing… His playing philosophy speaks to me. I can play in a four, on the right or on the left. As long as the team is good, I can play everywhere.”

Tags William Saliba

21 Comments

  1. Who has two thumbs and will never play for Arsenal so long as Arteta is at the helm…I’ll give you a clue, it rhymes with Filliam Uliba

  2. Not sure where any “dig” with Arteta is in his statement. Sounds like every player that joins a new team either permanently or on loan.

    1. Say “excited to be here”
    2. Then praise manager and team
    3. Speak glowingly of the supporters

    Don’t see any dig unless you are insecure and egomaniacal and think everything is about you.

    Hopefully Saliba is exceptional and proves to be indispensable for Arsenal goung forward.

    1. Absolutely agree. Nothing here. It is a masterpiece of communication because i am sure saliba must resent a bit not having been given a chance yet.

    2. I’d have said the same myself Durand. The manager at OM said there was room for improvement so I just don’t get where there was a dig at Arteta.
      I’m sure Saliba will benefit in the long run

      1. I’ve just re read my post and the way the article is written suggested it was JS and not Arteta. So I’ll take back what I wrote but still agree that the story is weak.

        1. Let’s face it folks.

          If the astronaut for the next moon landing takes a wrong turn and lands on Mars – it will be Arteta’s fault !

  3. You’re over analyzing. I saw another interpretation of the same quotes from Saliba saying that the Marseille manager agreed with Arteta, implying he didn’t think Saliba was ready for Arsenal either. Another over analysis.

  4. Who is Duncan castles? He is confident Arsenal have signed Ben White! Really? What about Lokonga have we signed him too?

  5. This is drawing a long straw to insinuate that William Saliba is having a shot at Mikel Arteta. All he says is what one would expect him to say when joining a new team under a new manager.
    People appear to be always trying to make Saliba look bad. Time will tell whether Arsenal’s treatment of Saliba, compared to Leicester City’s treatment of Folarin has been a success.

    1. Fofana you mean? I agree, bit amusing sometimes to say he doesn’t have EPL experience. How do you get EPL experience?? Well ask Wesley Fofana….

    2. What Saliba said was taken out of context I read the French interview he was explaining the reasons why he chose OM over the other clubs amongst them the coach ringing him several times and making him feel wanted and also his clear plans/tactics no digs towards MA.

  6. Arteta will cause Arsenal problems bcoz of his pride. Saliba has the ability bt bcoz he never bought him, he doesnt trust him

  7. Funny how MA can tell someone they are good but need to gain more experience first before coming to Arsenal, the definition of hypocrisy.

  8. Would love to be a fly on the wall when Saliba and Guendouzi get together and MA is discussed!!

    1. You wouldn’t want to be a fly on my wall Sue, I have an electric fly zapper and I’m like Novak Djokovic with it 🎾😆

      1. 🤣 that sounds too energetic for my liking!! It feels even hotter today…
        Going to crank some Linkin Park tunes up.. today marks the 4th anniversary of Chester Bennington’s death 😥

        1. It’s a real scorcher Sue I didn’t sleep much last night, got up and splashed myself with cold water at least 3 times 💦 well you could always follow it up with some Fleetwood Mac you can’t go wrong there 😜 4 years already 😳 you can have all the riches in the world but can’t buy happiness, bless him

  9. Correct me if I am wrong, but at the end of Saliba’s latest loan, he’ll only have 2 years left on his contract. Meaning Arsenal will have to offer him a new contract to protect their investment, or sell.

    As strange as it seems after 3 years worth of back-to-back loans, Saliba will still be very young, and a great prospect. However, will he want to sign a new contract?

    1. Though Saliba situation is strange, the pressing thing right now is to decide on the futures of young players with two years or less in their current contract at Arsenal like ESR, Willock, AMN, Nktiah, Nelson and Azeez. Also, a few “not so young yet not too old” players like Leno, Chambers, Bellerin and Torreira are in the same category too. The list is just short of one player from completing a starting line-up.

      With no game-time and revenue flow from European competition this season, I’m waiting to see how all these resources are managed to get the best deal for our club.

  10. Though Saliba situation is strange, the pressing thing right now is to decide on the futures of young players with two years or less in their current contract at Arsenal like ESR, Willock, AMN, Nktiah, Nelson and Azeez. Also, a few “not so young yet not too old” players like Leno, Chambers, Bellerin and Torreira are in the same category too. The list is just short of one player from completing a starting line-up.

    With no game-time and revenue flow from European competition this season, I’m waiting to see how all these resources are managed to get the best deal for our club.

  11. I might be one of the few who still believes (and hopes) Arteta might come good this season. But I have to admit it hard to understand the treatment of Saliba.

    Supposedly we will spend £50 million on White whilst our biggest need is in midfield (Losing Ceballos, Odergaard and likely Xhaka). We had one of the better defensive records last season but problems scoring. Saliba had a strong season in Nice yet he cannot help us to the extent that need to spend £50 million on White? Go figure.

    Even if Xhaka stays our biggest problem is still midfield. We have potentially one top 4 midfield player in Partey the rest are lacking in critical parts of their game. ESR is a potentially top midfield player who can solve some of our lack of creativity but he is too young to carry that load alone.

    Upfront we have enough (for now) to score more goals (Pepe, Saka, Martenelli, Auba, Laca, Belagun)

    We need another creative midfield player who can score goals and unlock defences (Aour?, Maddison?), and we need a partner for Partey (Bissouma? Neves?)

    Then if any players leave we need to replace them (Bellerin?, Xhaka?)

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors