Mikel Arteta says William Saliba is in his plans for next season and has promised to give the defender the chance to establish himself as a star in the first team of the United States. Arsenal.
The 21-year-old has had a rough time since joining the Gunners in 2019 on a £27m deal and has yet to make a senior appearance for the club, after being immediately loaned back to Saint-Etienne before continuing on to play at Nice and Marseilles.
His excellent performances in the south of France last season earned him a place in the Didier Deschamps national team and there have been suggestions that he had reservations about returning to Arsenal.
Saliba wants regular first team football in A World Cup but had previously found limited opportunities under Arteta, although the Arsenal boss says things will be different this time.
During the Gunners’ pre-season tour of the United States, Arteta said: “He’s in the plans. We can’t guarantee anyone on this team football in the first team – you can ask that question to anyone.
“What we guarantee is that those we actually see and think will take us to the next level will play many minutes.
“He is a real talent and he has shown what he can do over the past year. But in football it’s about what you do the next day – what everyone did three months ago or a month ago, it doesn’t matter. It’s about what you do tomorrow and he gets a chance to play.”
Arteta insists he and Saliba have always been on the same page regarding the defender’s development path at Arsenal and believes his loans have been hugely beneficial.
He continued: ‘The communication and honesty we’ve had with each other has always been very clear – I never promised minutes.
“I was very clear from the start what to expect, we made the decision to wait a few months [to see] whether that situation could change, it didn’t and then we have to make a decision and we made the right decision – those six months when he left, and then the following year.
“I think he has improved in many areas, first of all because he had an incredible amount of minutes last year. He played at a very good level.
“He was trained by another coach in a different league and now it’s about putting all those things for the way we want to play and in our league, which is a very different context. He has to show that now.
“I think he looked very confident and all the time he was abroad he built that confidence in him, which is very important. Don’t forget how old he is – how many players his age play as centre-backs for a big club in the Premier League?’
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