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Mikel knows Saliba endured a lot to be the player he is today.
William Saliba has committed his long-term future to Arsenal as the French international signed a five-year deal with the Gunners amid reported interest from Real Madrid.
It has been some sort of ride for Saliba, initially signed in 2019, many thought the central defender would come straight into the Arsenal set up, but what followed was a series of events that at the time we didn't understand, but now we do, and Mikel Arteta was the mastermind of it all.
Multiple loans from 2019 to 2022, which took him back to France, saw Saliba fall out of favor at Arsenal, to the point where many thought he would never pull on a Gunners shirt again.
But there was a method to Arteta's madness, and Saliba dominated Ligue 1, winning countless accolades in the process, like Young Player of the Year and being named in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year in 2022 with Marseille.
Arteta vindicated in Saliba decision
When Saliba stepped foot on the pitch against Crystal Palace to open the 2022/23 season, yeah, fans knew the sort of talent they had.
And when asked about Saliba's journey, and if he knew he would become the player he is today, Arteta gave a long-winded answer.
"I think it's a great example," Arteta said via arsenal.com. "To get where you want, there's not a single pathway. It can happen in various ways, in various manners, because when you talk about this pathway, you talk about loans. So there's a lot that has happened, a lot that William had to get through, and the club and myself with him as well, to get to the point where he is today. And that's the beauty of it, that sometimes things don't start the way you expect, but sometimes it's the best thing that can happen to you, to get where you want to get."
No one can second-guess that sending Saliba out on loans to make sure he gets first-team football instead of getting a handful of minutes here and there proved to be a masterstroke.
Now, the Gunners have one of the best central defenders in world football, and on a long-term deal as he chases silverware with the club that forged the pathway for him to become the colossal beast he is today.