William Saliba’s story is remarkable.
The Frenchman grew up an Arsenal fan and had Thierry Henry’s name on the back of his shirt. He dreamt of joining the Gunners one day, and that came true in 2019.
Since 2022, Saliba has been a mainstay in the Arsenal backline and has developed into one of the very best central defenders in the world.
However, the period in between was full of challenges for the centre-half.
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Mikel Arteta’s brutal message to William Saliba that made him want to cry
When Arsenal signed William Saliba in 2019, one of the terms of the agreement was that he would be loaned back to Saint-Etienne for a season.
The feeling at the time was that he would return to the Emirates after the loan and be integrated into the first team straight away.
However, Unai Emery was sacked and Mikel Arteta had come in by then, and the latter was not at all keen to give him an opportunity.
Saliba has now revealed that the Arsenal manager told him directly that he would not be in his squad for that campaign – not even in the Europa League.
The France international has now revealed that he was almost in tears, but he controlled himself for one reason.
He told France Football: “Of course, I doubted (if I would make it at Arsenal). I would be lying to you if I said otherwise.
“In addition, the previous season with Covid, I returned to Bondy. Healthy lifestyle? Forget it. You eat, you go to bed at 5 a.m., you hardly train, whereas in England, they had resumed.
“When I go back in the summer of 2020, just before the first Championship match, coach Arteta calls me to tell me he will not take me into the group.
“I wanted to cry in front of him. I held back so he wouldn’t say: “He is weak, he has no mentality. I’m going to send him back to France.”
“And again every week for six months, I wasn’t even on the list for the Europa League. I was in a really bad place.”
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Not enough is said about Mikel Arteta’s management of William Saliba
When Arteta refused to give opportunities to Saliba for two seasons, many Arsenal fans were not happy with him.
The Spaniard came under enormous criticism at the time, and many felt the Gunners would lose the talented defender as a result.
However, Arteta was absolutely right to send Saliba out on loan, so that he would develop and be ready for the challenges the Premier League presents.
The spells at Nice and especially Marseille made the France international the player he is today.
A lot was said about Arsenal and Arteta’s management of Saliba back then – the same people don’t praise him enough now.
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