‘Incredible’ star says he once thought he will ‘never’ play for Arsenal after what Mikel Arteta did

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Mikel Arteta has made some bold decisions at Arsenal over the years.

The Spaniard is one of the best in the business today, but many people forget that this is his first-ever job as a manager.

That is why many of Arteta’s decisions in his early years raised eyebrows – one, in particular, led to a ton of criticism as well.

However, like always, the Arsenal boss was proved right in the end.

William Saliba says he thought he would ‘never’ play for Arsenal because of Mikel Arteta

William Saliba’s Arsenal career has been eventful, to say the least.

The Frenchman joined the Gunners from Saint-Etienne in the summer of 2019, when Unai Emery was still at the helm at the Emirates.

Just a few months later, Emery was sacked and Mikel Arteta was appointed as the new Arsenal head coach.

Arteta didn’t have a great relationship with Saliba at the start. He sent the defender out on loan twice after keeping him out of the squad for six months in 2020.

The defender, who has just signed a new Arsenal contract and was hailed as ‘incredible‘ by Andrea Berta, has now admitted that he feared he would never get the chance to play for the Gunners because of Arteta’s decisions to loan him out.

He said, as relayed on HaytersTV: “When I arrived in 2020, and I didn’t play for six months, then I went on loan.

“Of course, sometimes you have some doubt to say: ‘Yeah, maybe I will never play for this club.’ But at the end, I told myself that I cannot leave this club without playing. And I didn’t give up. I went on loan, I played games. I came back here and I started almost every game.

“So yeah, I’m so proud of me. That means that you must never give up, and that’s what I did, and I’m proud of myself.”

Mikel Arteta’s William Saliba decision has paid off

It wouldn’t have been easy for Arteta to stand in front of the board and tell them to send Saliba out on loan two more times after his initial spell away.

The Gunners spent £27 million on the Frenchman when he was a teenager, which was a big sum at the time. Financially, not giving him opportunities at the Emirates made no sense.

However, the Arsenal owners backed Arteta’s decisions, and loan spells at Nice and especially Marseille helped Saliba become ready for the Premier League.

Since making his Arsenal debut in 2022, Saliba has been incredible, and Arteta’s management of him – before and after giving him opportunities – is the reason why.