Arsenal: Should William Saliba be worried about his future?

William Saliba, a name that evokes all the wrong feelings. Two years on from joining Arsenal and everything supporters know of the centre-back is from what he’s achieved elsewhere. That’s not right.

Everything that has happened for Saliba in north London has been dealt with poorly. Everything good that has happened for Saliba has been outside of London.

Both his loan spells in France since securing his signature in July 2019 have been great periods for the Frenchman. His initial loan back to St Etienne was one Arsenal couldn’t shirk. The Ligue 1 side would only sanction his sale if such an agreement was made and in the end his new side caved and decided 12 more months of regular football would do him good. David Luiz joined a few weeks after.

A year later and the hype returned. Saliba helped guide St Etienne to the 2020 Coupe de France final and avoid Ligue 1 relegation, despite missing out on much of the season through injury. Let’s now skip ahead and resist repeating the same infuriating timeline of events we all know very well. All the mistakes, bizarre decisions and damaging calls.

Should William Saliba be worried about his Arsenal future based on centre-back transfer pursuits and Mikel Arteta’s comments?

An excellent six months in the south of France have brought Saliba to this point. Luiz is gone and there is a spot up for grabs in the team. Mikel Arteta wants to rebuild his entire squad, focus on the youthful core and make the right additions around them. Where better to start that than with Saliba?

It doesn’t feel that way.

Starting with the work being done this summer, Arsenal are heavily pursuing another right centre-back to join the club. With Saliba returning full of confidence – almost an arrogance that transpires in his play to great effect – this may not fill him up with excitement.

Losing the experience of Luiz and the mentoring impact he has on the youngsters, anyone at 20 years old without a minute of Premier League football will, however understand the need for experience. Another addition could help Saliba.

Yet seeing Arsenal linked with players of a similar age bracket, Edmond Tapsoba and Jules Kounde, who will both cost upwards of £50m – not to mention are totally unobtainable – is hardly the reassuring news Saliba would want to hear upon his long-awaited return to London Colney.

It’s worrying for him and his future at Arsenal, thus one can only imagine how he will feel about it. Both are exceptional talents and would improve most squads in Europe, but for someone like Saliba who won’t have European football next season to earn valuable minutes, it does beg the question.

Unfortunately, that isn’t the only aspect that won’t reassure him.

Continued…