Had a poll been run at the point that William Saliba left Arsenal to join Olympique Marseille on loan to join wantaway Matteo Guendouzi in France, with the purpose of determining fan confidence that the 20-year-old would sign a new contract upon his return I imagine the results would not have been too positive. Saliba’s Arsenal career has been a non-starter for so long that many assumed it was done.
Saliba joined Arsenal in 2019 but the arrival of Mikel Arteta put the breaks on an early entry into the senior setup. The Spaniard decided, rather quickly, that the young defender wasn’t ready.
Mistakes were made in the summer of 2020 and a failure to get Saliba the loan he needed meant he suffered six months of playing youth football. This certainly left him feeling detached and unwanted and his interviews when on loan with Nice showed his frustration.
We always have a plan and when we have to execute it, that’s a different story and football is a really funny game and we are really happy to have him and you can see the way he’s adapted,” Arteta said. “The way he’s matured and he’s playing well, and we are delighted to have him.”
Should this report bear fruit and the Frenchman confirms his extension with the club, it would be a huge win for the manager. A genuine show of confidence from a player who looked incredibly disillusioned with the Gunners for so long.
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There is no timeframe on a possible announcement. Arsenal have been characteristically slow with these processes having even seen Oleksandr Zinchenko sit in the stands with Edu before the announcement of his signing was made official.
However, if and when Saliba is revealed to have extended his new deal it is a massive sign of encouragement that the players are buying into what Arteta is trying to achieve with the club. Doubts remain, and should, whether he can take the club back to the top.
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