Mikel Arteta was concerned about his relationship with Saliba

William Saliba joined Arsenal back in 2019 and played his first game this season.

The French defender went out on three different loan spells and last season won the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award with Marseille.

There were rumours that Saliba might leave this summer but decided to become a player in Arteta’s system.

Manager Mikel Arteta was concerned about their rocky start to the relationship.

Arteta told Sky Sports: “I’m really pleased. I was at many moments concerned because it was really tricky the way the relationship was at the start.

“We bought him, we sent him on loan first because that was part of the deal. He came back, we didn’t think he was ready and then sent him back on loan.

“A player of that potential that had that recognition already externally… how that was going to affect our relationship?

“But we believed and I was convinced that period was going benefit him much more than staying here.

“He was really humble and determined to say ‘OK I can put that aside, I understand’. Now he’s starting to perform here and he’s been exceptional.”

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