Mikel Arteta didn’t speak to William Saliba for a week

Mikel Arteta explains how Saliba won him over at Arsenal.

The Gunners boss has been delighted with the Frenchaman’s impact at the Emirates this season.

Saliba has made 29 appearances in all competitions and Arteta was surprised at how quickly the defender established himself at the North London club.

Since his arrival in 2019, the 21-year-old spent the last three seasons out on loan and enjoyed a breakthrough campaign with Marseille last year winning the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year.

Mikel Arteta explains how two training sessions made his doubts disappear of the French defender

“The first two sessions we looked at him, we went ‘there’s huge potential here’,” said the Arsenal boss. “The way he settled, the way he started to get his role around his team-mates and the way he played in pre-season. He took out every question mark that we could have with him and gave us all the reasons to play him. He’s been exceptional since that day.

“For the first week I didn’t speak to him. I just wanted to see – naturally, without me really interfering in his thoughts – how he was. Because then you can understand the real him and after that I spoke to him.”

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