Mikel Arteta still does not believe that William Saliba is ready for senior football.
Since tying down a £27 million move from Saint Etienne in 2018, Saliba is yet to feature for the Arsenal first team.
He has played regularly for the U23s and in the PL2 this season following a season on loan with his old club. Many expected him to be a major part of Arteta’s plans for the 2020/21 season but was surprisingly left out of both the Premier League and Europa League squads.
Asked when Saliba could make his first-team debut (via football.london), Arteta replied: “Whenever we have the spaces and we believe that he’s ready to play with us. To be fair, he’s made massive improvements in the last few months and it’s been a really tricky situation for him.
“As I mentioned before, [we have] designed a pathway for him and there were a lot of things that happened to him in his personal life and professionally as well.”
Saliba is still only 19 years old with a massive reputation coming out of France. He is likely to depart on loan this January to aid his development. When pressed on this matter, Arteta said, “It’s something that we are discussing at the moment, the best thing for us to do. It will be decided soon.”
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