According to The Athletic, William Saliba was affected by Arsenal’s decision to send Matteo Guendouzi on loan to Hertha Berlin in October.
The Gunners decided to offload the £8 million Unai Emery signing after his unprofessional display against Brighton back in June.
Football London say that the Frenchman’s conduct against the Seagulls left Mikel Arteta unimpressed, and led to his decision to loan Guendouzi out.
However, that decision was ‘felt’ by Saliba, according to The Athletic.
James McNicholas wrote that the two Frenchman knew each other well having risen through the France youth ranks together.
Before Saliba joined Arsenal, the pair had also spoken about the prospect of reuniting at the Emirates Stadium.
That was just one incident in a long list of events which have negatively affected the 19-year-old.
The Athletic cite Emery’s departure as another.
The Spaniard helped convince the precocious centre-back to join Arsenal, but was sacked before he could hand Saliba a second of game-time.
Raul Sanllehi also played a key role in negotiations, but he too was sacked before Saliba returned from his season-long loan with AS Saint-Etienne.
It’s been a rough start to life at Arsenal for the youngster, so let’s hope he can turn it around.
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