Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Mikel Arteta has been discussing William Saliba and his future at Arsenal.
The French centre-half was sent out on loan in January, and he made it very clear that he was frustrated with his lack of opportunities at the Emirates this season.
However, with David Luiz set to leave Arsenal the question was put to Arteta as to whether or not Saliba would be considered as a replacement for the Brazilian.
Arteta wouldn’t confirm or deny whether or not Saliba would be used as Luiz’s replacement, but he’s said that he’ll definitely be back at Arsenal to be assessed this summer and a decision will be made on what role he has next season.
“You will see in the summer, the possible replacement. William is our player for sure and that’s the decision that we’re going to be taking soon,” Arteta said.
“Again, when we finish the season, we will sit down. We’re still competing. We will sit down and discuss the roles of every member of the squad and how they can fulfil that role and he’s our player so he’ll be back here for sure. After that, we will make a decision based on the agreement of the role that each player is going to have in the squad.”
Arteta certainly wasn’t giving much away here.
The Spaniard seemingly isn’t a big fan of Saliba’s but after the youngster has earnt plaudits during his time with Nice, he may have changed his mind.
Let’s not forget that Saliba is a £30m player in his own right, so he should be handed an opportunity at Arsenal sooner rather than later.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for the centre-back.
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