Mikel Arteta made an ‘unbelievable decision’ in delaying William Saliba’s Arsenal progress.
That is the opinion of Ian Wright, speaking to The Wrighty House podcast.
Arsenal supporters have long called on Arteta to utilise Saliba, who joined the Gunners under Unai Emery back in 2019.
But this is his first full season in Arteta’s squad and the North Londoners are top of the Premier League table, boasting an eight-point cushion over Manchester City.
The France international has played an instrumental role in Arsenal’s progress this season.
And Wright believes it’s something of a masterstroke by the Spanish manager to only unleash Saliba when Arteta felt that he was ready for the Premier League, following a number of loan spells away.
He said: “You look at Saliba. Even when he went for the last year at that loan, we was like ‘why don’t we bring him back now!?’. We left him there and he’s totally ready [now]. At the moment it looks like an unbelievable decision.”
You have to say, it was a masterstroke by the former Manchester City assistant.
As mentioned, there was enormous pressure from the fanbase to bring him back and begin using him in the senior side.
But the Arsenal manager kept true to his belief and it’s paying dividends in a massive way for the Emirates Stadium who, in a few months, could be Premier League champions.
And that’s ultimately the point.
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