Arsenal: Mikel Arteta Will Not Allow Centre Back to Leave the Club Again

No! The answer is plain and simple, no! That is what Arsenal’s manager MIkel Arteta has told the media regarding “wantaway” William Saliba, who openly admitted he wanted to stay at Marseille over a return to Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta has laid down the law at the Emirates for William Saliba. The defender signed for the Gunners back in 2019 and was immediately sent back to the Ligue 1 side on loan.

He then completed a full season with them and then returned to North London, only to be sent back out on loan again; this time with another French outfit, Marseille. While at Marseille, Saliba and his teammates enjoyed a great season together, finishing second in the standings with 71 points.

Now they gear up for Champions League football and William Saliba wants to be part of what comes next for them. However, the Arsenal boss has made it clear, that he is now ready to compete with them in North London.

"Arteta tells RMC: “William Saliba has to come back. He has the experience to be competitive with us. We sent him to Marseille for his growth”.“William wanted to be regular starter as you know but now we want him back at Arsenal”."

These comments follow the player’s comments just before the end of the season. Even back then, Arteta was adamant that he is part of the long-term plan at the club. He had a heavy contribution to the push for UCL football; he started 36 of the 38 top-flight games for Marseille and helped concede a low of 38 goals, the second-lowest for the season in Ligue 1.

"Marseille clinched a place in the group stage of next season’s Champions League with a 4-0 win over Strasbourg on Saturday, and Saliba said his intent is to stay at the Stade Velodrome.“I want to come back and play the Champions League. I have never played in it and I want to discover it here,” Saliba said following their victory. (via: 90min.com)"

Good Choice by Mikel Arteta to Keep William Saliba at Arsenal

Despite being two seasons with the Gunners, Saliba is yet to make a senior appearance for them, only taking part in their PL2 side where he featured six times. This was seen as a bizarre move by the club, as they then went to go and sign Ben White from Brighton for a said £50m.

Nobody could piece together why they would send a promising centre-back out on load and sign another promising CB from a Premier League club for so many pounds. Well, Arsenal could have run the risk of losing White to a rival club if they had not acted last summer.

The decision to send Saliba to Marseille was sort of a masterstroke, seeing that all of their first-choice centre-backs got regular game time at the highest level. If they did not send him on loan, they could have struggled to keep all of them happy at the club while playing less football.

Now they have already started solving the issue at the back without having made a single defensive signing. They have three young centre-backs competing for the two CB spots available. This not only adds more quality to the backline but also creates healthy competition at the back, during what will be a busier season.

Arsenal Had One of the Worst Defences This Season

Work on the defensive line should take priority over all other areas. Aaron Ramsdale’s arrival last season only solved part of the problem, now it is time to sort out the rest of the stresses.

They need to add more personnel to a thin defensive line. Not only at centre-back do they need help but the fullback areas need some help as well. One or two injuries to the backline totally throw them off.

This season Arsenal was the worst conceding team in the top six with 48 goals let in, that’s eight more than the team closest to them, Spurs; and only nine less than Manchester United’s 57.

That alone is enough evidence that a lot of work is needed at the back and keeping William Saliba at the club is a good way to start fixing the holes.