William Saliba has told Eurosport how Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta ignoring him at the Emirates Stadium has made him a better player.
Saliba, now on loan at Marseille, worked with Arteta at Arsenal during the first half of last season.
The 20-year-old central defender could not make a single appearance in the Premier League.
Saliba spent the second half of last season on loan at Nice and join Marseille on loan in the summer of 2021.
William Saliba on Arsenal and Mikel Arteta
Saliba told Eurosport: “There are hard times. I hadn’t played a game for six months. You have to fight in a career. We must take that as a lesson to go further.
“It gave me a little slap to say: ‘You are nobody!’ You can be bought for 30 million euros, arrive in a club and we put you aside.
“I took this experience by being positive. I feed on it. I know what it’s like not to play for six months. Today, I want to play every game.
“It puts the ideas back in place. Before arriving at Arsenal, I said to myself: ‘Who am I going to play with?’ And then you are not even in the group in the Premier League.”
What next for William Saliba?
In our opinion, Saliba has to think carefully about his long-term future at Arsenal under Arteta
The Gunners paid £27 million for the youngster (Sky Sports).
It shows how much Arsenal value and rate Saliba.
However, Arteta was not the manager of Arsenal at the time.
Ben White and Gabriel are now the clear first-choice centre-back pairing under Arteta at Arsenal.
So, Saliba will have to fight extremely hard in order to play regularly for Arsenal under Arteta next season.
In our view, Saliba should come back to Arsenal for pre-season training in 2022 and then take it from there.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
