Despite arriving at Arsenal in the summer of 2019 for a fee potentially rising to £27m, central defender William Saliba is still waiting for his first-team debut with the Gunners.
The now 20-year old was sent out for a disappointing loan spell at Saint Etienne for the 2019/20 season and has been at Nice since January where, thankfully, he has made an impression in his 22 appearances.
And, amid reported interest from Bayer Leverkusen, football.london report that Mikel Arteta is willing to give his young centre back a chance to impress at the club once he returns in July, hinting that, despite what many may have concluded, Saliba does have a future with the Gunners.
"He will come back for pre-season and he will be with us. Hopefully he will come back after playing a number of games and his performance raising and his development progressing in the right way," the Arsenal boss said back in February. "That’s why we made that decision [to send him out on loan]."
"I know that sometimes it’s difficult to explain or understand after the money that the club has spent trying to bring him in, to send him on loan. But a lot of things have happened to him, he’s a long-term player for us and we need to protect him as well. And giving him three or four games is not enough.
"For him he needs much more than that...And now he needs to play, play and play and enjoy his profession as well. And in order to do that I think we found the right club with him.
"He’s very happy to get there now," Arteta continued. "Hopefully he can enjoy his football and be ready for us for next season."
The addition of Saliba to Arteta's playing squad will no doubt be a boost for the Gunners boss, given first-team regular David Luiz's departure this summer.
Arteta has previously admitted that a pool of four or five options for the centre-back positions is preferable to him. Once Saliba returns to the Emirates, he will find himself alongside Gabriel, Rob Holding and Pablo Mari as the only out-and-out central defenders in the squad, potentially leaving the door open for an opportunity to establish himself at the Premier League outfit.
Source : 90min