Saliba wants to stay in the UK with January loan
Of the many issues faced by Arsenal during their dismal start to the Premier League season, few have perplexed supporters more than William Saliba’s complete lack of first-team action.
Saliba was signed from boyhood club St Etienne in 2019 for £27 million and, then aged 18, he immediately returned to the French side on loan to continue his development.
But that season was disrupted by injuries, football’s COVID-19 shutdown and a family bereavement, meaning he arrived in London last summer without the intended preparation.
He found a different head coach (Mikel Arteta) to the man who was in charge when he joined (Unai Emery) and that always risked bringing additional complications to the relationship.
Deemed not ready for selection in the early weeks of this campaign, Saliba was given permission in the final days of the transfer window to make another loan move and there were options in the UK and abroad. He chose St Etienne again but the paperwork was not completed in time and his situation deteriorated further when Arteta omitted him from Arsenal’s Europa League squad.
Saliba is still yet to make a senior appearance and despite Arteta citing “massive improvements”, the centre-back’s selection chances are further hampered by circumstances beyond his control.
A hectic fixture schedule sees Arsenal playing two matches each week and that leaves minimal time for proper training. When the squad are away, Saliba works alongside the other players not included and the under-23s. When the whole group is together, the need to prepare the starting XI for the next fixture often results in the likes of Saliba being utilised as practice opposition.
Central defence is also a congested position at Arsenal with Gabriel Magalhaes, Rob Holding, David Luiz, Shkodran Mustafi, Calum Chambers and Pablo Mari all ahead of Saliba in the pecking order, while Sokratis Papastathopoulos is another out of contention at the Emirates Stadium.
Saliba’s hopes should improve next season as Luiz, Mustafi and Papastathopoulos are coming to the end of their contracts, which makes game time between now and then all the more important.
Arteta confirmed last week that a fresh loan is being discussed for January and The Athletic understands Saliba’s preference would be to stay within the UK, which may speed up his adaptation over the final six months of the campaign. Failing that, there are a number of possibilities in France.
There has been no indication from Arsenal that they would consider selling the 19-year-old; to the contrary, they remain optimistic he will fulfil the potential that convinced them to recruit him.
