14 April 2023 , 10:37
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The idea that William Saliba was once tipped for the Emirates exit before having kicked a ball for Arsenal now seems crazy to the Gunners fanbase.
However, there was a time when the Frenchman was rumoured to be unhappy with the situation he found himself in at Arsenal and Saliba's comments to the media at that time certainly read like a man angling for a move away. With that being said, it is clear that for all of the speculation, manager Mikel Arteta rated him very highly.
Saliba was only 18 years of age when his move to north London from Saint-Etienne was confirmed, back when Unai Emery was in charge at the Emirates. However, the Spaniard was sacked four months after the defender was signed, who at the time was back on loan with the club Arsenal signed him from.
Arteta replaced Emery and handed Saliba his first appearance in a Gunners shirt in the summer of 2020, during a pre-season friendly away at MK Dons. Despite impressing, the centre-back was left out of the Gunners' competitive squads for the coming campaign and forced to play with the Under-23s.
Having only made 15 appearances on loan back at Saint-Etienne, Arteta felt Saliba still wasn't ready for the rigours of the Premier League and arranged a second-loan spell mid-way through the 2020/21 season back in Ligue 1 with OGC Nice.
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It was there where Saliba appeared to show his first real signs of frustration with Arsenal, particularly after Arteta told the media that the decision to send him back out on loan stemmed from a lack of game-time in the first spell and fears over his development.
William Saliba's second loan spell away from Arsenal came at OGC NiceSaliba responded: "The coach immediately told me that I was not ready," he said. "I would have at least liked to have had a chance to rediscover my rhythm. But this is football, it's like that."
The centre-back also later told RMC's 'Top of the Foot' show: "It is clear that so much has changed in the last year. When I saw that the coach changed a lot changed for me too.
"In this year there has been a lot of change. He judged me on two-and-a-half matches. I would have liked for him to play me more. But he told me I wasn't ready. I was waiting for him to give me a chance, but football is like that.
"When I initially came to Arsenal the league looked very good so I showed up to training and wanted to train on my own to show the coach I was ready. I am happy now, I want to play for Nice. The idea when you're part of a team is a better feeling for me."
Saliba's stars shone so brightly at Nice there was talk of him staying there on a permanent basis, but in Arteta's mind that was never an option.
That's why the Arsenal boss made sure there was no clause inserted into Saliba's loan deal with Nice that would allow the French side to make the defender a permanent addition.
Arteta was clearly of the belief he could turn Saliba into a fully-fledged star at the Emirates, he just had to be patient. That patience was truly tested when Arsenal opted to send the defender out on loan for a THIRD time before he'd kicked a competitive ball for the Gunners, on this occasion to yet again another French side in Marseille.
Just days after Saliba's loan switch to Marseille was sealed, Arsenal announced the £50million signing of Brighton defender Ben White, who would also inherit the number 4 shirt, initially given to Saliba.
William Saliba spent the entirety of last season on loan at Marseille (Getty Images)This time, however, Saliba took the news a tad better and insisted it was up to him to get his head down and fight for his career.
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"You have to fight in a career," he told French media. "We must take that as a lesson to go further. It gave me a little slap to say: 'You are nobody!' You can be bought for 30 million euros, arrive in a club and we put you aside.
"I took this experience by being positive. I feed on it. I know what it's like not to play for six months. Today, I want to play every game. It puts the ideas back in place.
"Before arriving at Arsenal, I said to myself: 'Who am I going to play with?' And then you are not even in the group in the Premier League. It gives you a good slap, it feels good. It brings you back to reality."
Arteta actually chose to show gratitude for the time Saliba spent at Marseille, insisting it helped his progression in a way that simply wouldn't have been possible at the Emirates with the players he had in front of him.
"If he had stayed with us this year, where we had one Premier League game every week, with Ben White and Gabriel, he wouldn't have had half the playing time he had with Marseille, that's for sure," the Arsenal boss claimed.
"For his growth and what he can do next season, that wouldn't have been good."
William Saliba enjoyed a man-of-the-match display on his Arsenal debutArteta's careful and at times controversial plan for Saliba's development has gone on to have been proved right, with the young defender a shining light in a remarkable season for the Gunners.
A man-of-the-match performance on the opening night of the season away at Crystal Palace was a sign of things to come and the centre-back has barely put a foot wrong since.
Saliba has been instrumental in Arsenal mounting a serious title charge this term and as the Gunners sit six points clear at the top with eight games to go, the defender may have something big to show for his efforts come the end of the season.