One problem position for Arsenal at the moment is at centre-back, and their issues in the heart of their defence have just been exacerbated by an injury to Gabriel Magalhaes.
The Brazilian has picked up a knee injury that will keep him out of his country’s Olympic campaign, and while that’s incredibly frustrating for the defender, it puts Arsenal in a bit of a predicament.
Knee injuries aren’t ones that you can rush back from, so the reality is that Arsenal may be without Gabriel for the first few weeks of the season, and that may force Mikel Arteta to change his stance on William Saliba.
Think about it, The Gunners are now down to just four senior centre-halves in the shape of Rob Holding, Pablo Mari, Calum Chambers and William Saliba, and with Chambers seemingly being preferred as a right-back lately, he can’t be relied upon as a centre-back option.
Therefore, the Gunners really only have three fit centre-halves at the moment, and while they may be about to add another in the shape of Ben White, but as with any player still in the tournament, he will need a break after spending time with England at Euro 2020, so there’s every chance he will not be ready for the start of the season.
In our view, this injury issue may see Arteta change his view on Saliba this summer.
Now, we’re not saying that Saliba will become an instant starter for Arsenal and won’t be loaned out, but we have to say that it would be a very short-sighted move to let him go before the beginning of the season.
Just imagine if Arsenal loaned Saliba out and then Mari or Holding went down with injury or suspension, all of a sudden Arsenal would be looking at a catastrophic centre-half problem to kick-off their season, and that could derail their momentum for the entire campaign.
However, if Saliba is kept around, his presence will act as a safety net, at least until Gabriel is back or a new signing is properly bedded in.
The reality check that Arteta now has to deal with is that Saliba may be an important depth option at the beginning of the season after Gabriel’s injury, and keeping him around for the opening fixtures could be a good idea.
Let’s not forget, the window doesn’t shut until the end of the summer, and after Gabriel went down with a knee problem, keeping Saliba around for the opening games of the season would make a lot of sense.
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