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..