Saliba videos shows Arteta that he will definitely be ready for Arsenal’s pre-season

Last summer’s arrival at Arsenal of William Saliba after his year’s loan back at St Etienne was fraught with misinformation and conflicting reports about whether the young defender was ready to play for Arsenal or not.

There was some acrimony when Mikel Arteta didn’t include the then 19 year-old in his official League squad, despite failing to find a loan position for him before the end of the transfer window, and Saliba was left to rot in the reserves until he went on loan to Nice in January.

At his unveiling at Nice in January, Saliba told the media: “My first six months were difficult, because I was coming from six months where I wasn’t able to train because I was at home and couldn’t train outside, couldn’t play,”

“I arrived there as they were finishing the league season, so I was training alone. As soon as they came back from holidays, we quickly had the first friendly matches where I lacked rhythm and was a bit insufficient physically.

“The coach immediately told me that I was not ready. I would have at least liked to have a chance to rediscover my rhythm. But this is football, it’s like that.”

Well, this time around the 20 year-old is giving Arteta no room for excuses as some videos of him already back in training and preparing for the new season have surfaced on Twitter.

So, now the ball is back in Arteta’s court and surely must be in Arsenal’s best interests to see what Saliba can do in pre-season before considering any loans or sale before the new season.

He certainly looks strong, fit and raring to go. Let us see how the saga unfolds this summer before we decide whether Saliba is an expensive mistake or a shrewd bit of business by Arsenal..

Tags Saliba Twitter

25 Comments

  1. Great effort, which is hopefully not just for social media and hyping up his popularity. Unfortunately, I’m afraid Arteta is a bit conservative in selecting CBs, like Wenger

    Arteta might choose more experienced CBs again, which is why we keep hearing about Ben White. That rumor makes me worried about Saliba and Chambers

    1. How is Ben White more experienced then Saliba? They both are young and can hardly be called experienced. Also Wenger was not conservative in selecting CBs, stop comparing a below avg manager to world class manager. People forget so quickly Kolo and Campbell plus Kos as well.

      1. White will be 24 years old this year, whereas Saliba is just 20 years old

        White has been playing in England for more than one decade and was a key player at four clubs. Saliba just played for two clubs in France and Arsenal is his first English club

        In an interview, Wenger said he trusted senior CBs more than the youngsters. Unfortunately he had to play the youngsters occasionally, to give them experience

        1. GAI
          Wenger may have trusted older CBs, but it didn’t work out all that that well. Except for Kos we struggled with bad CB choices in the later Wenger era. Squillaci, Mustafi, etc etc

        2. GAI, check out the ages of Tony Adams and Martin Keown when they were playing first team football for Arsenal.
          William Saliba is a strong tall physical specimen, has won player of the month awards in France and has been selected to represent his country in the Olympics, yet won’t be up to play for Arsenal?
          He must be distracted seeing the progress his ex St Ettienne team mate has made given the opportunity he has at Leicester City. By the way you should also check their position relative to Arsenal. You should really reassess your name.

    2. At 23 and with only one full season in the EPL , Ben White can hardly be described as experienced.Although he is quick and adaptable , at only 6 ft he does not have the physical presence of Saliba nor Mavroponas.While I like him as a player, we have more pressing priorities than signing yet another centre back.

      1. White has been playing in England for more than one decade and was a key player at four clubs. Whereas Saliba just played for two clubs in France and Arsenal is his first English club

        I agree about his stature though and we do have pressing needs in other departments, such as CF. White’s signing shows that Arteta doesn’t see Holding and Chambers as Luiz’s main replacement

    3. I think Ben White, if we get him, will play DM. He’s very quick, very mobile and great on the ball but not tall for a CB. What do you think GAI?

      1. That’s the thing Declan.

        5 in 1 so to speak (Arsenal love a buy like that).

        I think the possibility of playing White in a number of positions is coming into play here.

        White could play;

        R/B
        RCB in a 4
        RCB in a 3
        Central CB in a 3
        DM (not so sure).

        Saliba could potentially line up WITH White in more than one of the above options.

        We all know how M A likes to change things game on game, given the opposition.

        And he will challenge players to test themselves out of position if needs be.

        I do hope we see Saliba at the club and featuring next season.

        But what of Holding ?

        For me one to move on – but what do we read into the new contract awarded ?

      2. Yeah he could be a DM or an RB too. If he’s quick, he’ll be an improvement to Chambers

        Unfortunately we haven’t seen him in Euro yet. I didn’t notice him when we played against Brighton

  2. I hope he succeeds at Arsenal, he is very talented and has the right physical attributes for EPL. Him, Gabi, Tierney and a new young RB will give us a stable and exciting back 4 after a long time. I just want to see Saliba and Gabi play together and form a partnership strong defensive partnership.

    1. Logic, I have no problem in buying Ben White, with his versatility being a major plus. My concern has always been, that sufficient funds remain in the transfer budget to address the critical areas in midfield; a DM partner (if that is Ben White good in theory) to allow Thomas Partey to reach his potential as a box to box midfielder and an ACM to take the pressure off ESR. Matheus Pereira comes to mind.
      Then should funds permit, a back up LB for Kieran Tierney (or an opportunity for an Academy player) and a replacement RB for Hector Bellerin.

  3. My instincts tell me – amid a web of contradictory rumours about SALIBAS short term future- that MA will indeed use and cherish him this coming season.

    My reason tells me that a great deal of unpleasant, vindictive and far too pre- judgemental posts have foolishly condemned MA for not using him last season, when NONE of those fans can possibly have known the full position, as only club insiders will have known.

    1. The post immediately above my own above post is a perfect example of a spiteful and unthinking fan!

    2. Yeah yeah MA always have a valid reason right? If it’s Saliba, Martenelli, AMN, Wilock, Ozil, Guendozi etc etc. I would like to see you give same benefit of doubt when it came to Wenger , becaue you never do or did because when it comes to Wenger you seem to know all the inside stories as they were shared by club with you lol!.

  4. I think Saliba will be a part of the squad this season, whether a key part or not that remains to be seen. Most of the Saliba sale, loan etc are just media fueled uproars. While at first glance his statement looked like taunting the manager, I think that was him just venting it out. Maybe after coming back everything has been sorted, as I heard about him saying that he will give his all to play tgis season for the Arsenal. Let us wait till the preseason to find out. Also the fact that he is a CB comfortable playing out from the back is something I dont think MA will let go easily. MA really made lots of bad decisions last season which cost us our season but lets not slate him for mistakes he has not made yet, like ousting Saliba.

  5. So we are in advance talk with Brighton for Ben White for about £50million or more. I mean how stupid is that, when we this team lacked creativity and we suffered last season any blind person could tell you what we needed what does Arteta and Edu do? Go out and try to sign a defender for £50million. 50 million for Ben White really ….such over rated and over priced. We would have been far better in spending that money on camavinga as deep laying playmaker or can get Aouar for bit less. Point is both are more needed then Ben White. This is what happens and we have seen it before when you give authority to these two clowns.

    1. If the team plays as well as season 2020/21, Arteta and Arsenal won’t have to worry if spectators are limited, because people will vote with their feet. There will be plenty of tickets for tourists at the Emirates

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