Saliba’s loan journey comes to an end
William Saliba’s current club Marseille only have one league game left before their season draws curtains.
With the young Frenchman suspended for the last game, Saliba’s third loan journey in as many years has come to an end.
Saying that the 21-year-old’s move to the French side was a success would be an understatement. It’s almost like ‘he came, he saw, and he conquered.’
William Saliba’s latest loan spell came to an end tonight
51 appearances
20 Clean sheets
3 Marseilles player of the month awards
Nominated for Ligue 1 young player of the season
France senior debut
Safe to say his loan served its purpose. pic.twitter.com/0huVVwVKIY
— Ben Browning (@BenBrowning3) May 14, 2022
The Arsenal man made an impressive 51 appearances for OM, clocking a whopping 4,585 minutes under his belt. Compared to the Arsenal man who played the most minutes in all competitions, Ben White, at 3,186, those are very good numbers for a 21-year-old.
In fact, not one Arsenal player was on the pitch for more time than the Gunners asset in the Marseille squad.
It’s not just the minutes played metric where he stood out so impressively good, he was also the recipient of three of his club’s Player of the Month awards.
Apart from that, he kept 20 clean sheets in France while also representing his national squad, which is a stellar feat, especially considering his age and the talent that France has in every position of the field.
🚨 William Saliba is in Arsenal’s plans for next season. Reports, @OMLaProvence. pic.twitter.com/JbSpVodQBJ
— Eduardo Hagn (@EduardoHagn) May 13, 2022
He achievements don’t draw a line there. Saliba has also been nominated for the Young Player of the Season in Ligue 1 and is a strong contender of the five nominees to win that award.
With two years still left on his current deal at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal just cannot afford to lose him at any cost.
Bukayo Saka is one generational talent that everyone has seen flourish at the home of Arsenal Football Club. If given the time and opportunity, Saliba can be the next one in line.
Should Arteta bring him back into the fold?
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Yes. We should not even consider the prospect of selling him.
We need 4 quality Central defenders.
White
Gabriel
Saliba
Holding
We are playing in europe next season. More games to play
Is Holding a quality defender?
OBVIOUSLY Holding is NOT!
SLOW AND CLUMSY, EVEN THOUGH DETERMINED, DOES NOT EQUAL QUALITY.
Sorry I would put Ballard over Holding, like Cedric we see how exposed he was by pace. Sure he done ok in a few matches but like Chambers, Mari, Mavropanos, Luiz, Sokratis and Mustafi anyone with pace can catch them out.
For me Saliba is our next best outside the fab 4. Ballard would be next and then Harry Clarke, who has played all across the back 5 this season. If we was to get Hickey, then that would be my 8 defenders for next season.
The money we get for Leno, Bellerin, Cedric, Mavropanos, Maitland-Niles, Mari, Guendozi, Torreira, Pepe, can be spent where we really need it.
I would look at Tavares in a wing role and may be look at Nelson again, in preseason.
We need him!
We got White and Holding who can play both CB and RB while keeping CB for Saliba .. hope that we qualify to CL then for sure we need more CBs
I think we could easily lose Gabriel and Saliba, both are not happy at Arsenal and Gabriels agent is putting him about to teams. Interesting summer.
Hey Reggie, who says they are not happy?
All tabloid dross. Nil evidence. As per this and according to that, as reported by blah blah…
Where did get this info?
See no reason why Saliba doesn’t return and get a chance. 51 games he’s not an injury wreck, top player award possibility, 2 years left on his contract as well.
He looks ready to challenge for starting CB role if given a chance, White and Gabriel shouldn’t be considered nailed-on starters.
Only a fool couldn’t see the talent, and selling a player like that would be disastrous for the club.
How much would it cost to replace him? Are White or Gabriel irreplaceable?
If White cost 50 million, how much is Saliba’s value?
Convince Saliba that he’ll have honest chance to compete for starting CB spot and extend his contract.
Durand, the worry is, will William Siba sign an extension?
Saliba should’ve cost more than 60 M, because he’s a homegrown player in England. Unfortunately, if he isn’t willing to extend his contract in the summer, he’d likely be sold
Gai, it would be a shame if Arsenal and Arteta don’t get to keep him. From what I have watched him play in league one I tell you Saliba has improved greatly and his stats well better than White and Holding.
Yeah. He’s got enough experience, so he should be able to compete with the senior CBs at Arsenal
He just won ligue1 young player of the season.
Congrats to the lad and big hug to Mikel for chalking out a progressive career for the lad, Mikel’s vision and mission has been achieved.
Have to give credit to the lad too for buying into Mikel’s vision as so many like AMN shunned the career paths meticulously planned by Mikel.
I just pray Arteta will be able to develop him further, because even a blind man can see the boy has talent
Massive talent this kid didn’t had to go anywhere to prove that.
Bruised egos aside, hoping good sense prevail.
@Gunsmoke
RealTalk. The talent was always there. All he needed was the match time to show it, which he got by being on loan, while he could have stayed and been given the very same amount of matches, getting a chance to gel with his teammates and adapting to the EPL all in one fell swoop…IJS
The fact that there are no central defenders being linked with a move to Arsenal is a strong indicator that we will be keeping Saliba to compete with Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes & Rob Holding in the CB positions.
As for the Gabriel Magalhaes rumours doing the rounds, it’s all just talk. He is contracted to us until 2025 (3 years left now) so we have no pressure to sell.
Infact, a few months back there was word that Arsenal wanted to offer him an improved contract to better reflect his contribution and importance to the team. He is currently on a modest £50,000 per week.
However, it is worth noting that there are a number of Arsenal players that are entitled to an automatic pay rise should we make UCL as this was inscribed in their contracts when they agreed to take the controversial pay cuts during the heights of covid.
It’s a matter of maybe offering him a little bit more than the automatic pay rise and extending his contract by say 2 years to protect his value.
Saliba MUST play next season. We have seen White and Gabby put in some suspect performances so to me it is very possible Saliba will usurp one of them and get the first team spot. I have waited for Saliba for so long I can’t wait to see him at Arsenal. Hopefully he still wants to play for us though with Marseille in the Champions League he could easily insist to stay there and enjoy the fruits of his labour.
They’re almost there, QD – just need a point against Strasbourg on Saturday.
I agree with you; the dream CB pairing was to be Saliba/Gabriel!! Interesting to see how this all pans out…
@Sue-
Let’s just hope we do the business vs Newcastle, UCL is still in our hands. Get it and am sure Saliba will return. Champions League aside, I would like to see Bruno Guimaraes put in his place.
Gabriel has travelled; so that’s good news! Yeah I must admit that would be nice; all that talk over choosing Newcastle over us!
He obviously as to come back ,but him signing a new contract I cannot see ,which means the club either sell or once again lose money which is the norm for the club these days so wouldn’t put it past Laurel and hardy .
Big up to Jorge Sampaoli for given him a chance and by the looks of it turning him into a top player shame our own manager couldn’t do it .
I don’t know why the club mainly Arteta gets so much stick over Saliba. White and Gabriel have been damn good this season in the main and when called upon Holding too done a decent job in most matches. Arteta and the club felt Saliba would get more minutes at Marseille and he was 100% right on that. Even Ballard, Clarke, Mavropanos, Chambers and Mari were allowed to leave and all have enjoyed more minutes than they would have got at Arsenal. I think Arteta will only too pleased to use him next season, a season that is going to be greatly affected by International callups, a much bigger squad will be required and players like Saliba, who will still be classed as an under 21 will be well used.
Looking at goals conceeded this season by Arsensal, I would hate to see Gabriel and White have a “damb bad” season!
Even Arteta cannot be soup his own ass to get rid of one of the best young CBs in the world. He is managing Arsenal not riding his ego. Shame Arteta wasn’t humble enough to make peace with Guendouzi. Had we have bought a striker in the January window we would have been in the Champions League…now not much chance. We’ve snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Saliba has not only to come back but also should be given assured playing time, such is the young mans talent. A central pairing of Saliba and Gabriel would be imposing for Arsenal. Hope he not only comes back and plays but also signs a contract extension. Playing in the PL has its own charm and I hope MA gives him regular playing time.
Rightly or wrongly Arteta didn’t think Saliba was ready to play for Arsenal at the time of his loan although there were reports that MA rued his decision
Has the loan been successful? ✔️
All the more reason to integrate him into the squad for next season then. Until such time as Arteta either dithers over Saliba or he doesn’t want to play for us then all the wringing of hands over his ill treatment or poor management is conjecture.
SueP, the major concern is the length of Saliba’s remaining contract.
Well Gabriel seems to be on his way to Juventus, I guess that leaves Saliba replacing him….a Saliba and white combo.
I only hope We make good money out of his sale
If his attitude is right we welcome him back. If his attitude is not right, we’ll wave him goodbye.
He has the talent to succeed in the Premier League but based on his last game where he didn’t look good at all at crucial moments he has still a lot to learn. Would love to see him back at Arsenal and play a string of games.