Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta confirmed his interest in French defender William Saliba who returned from a loan to Marseille. 

The 40-year-old said “William Saliba is in the plans, I’m excited to see him. We can’t guarantee first-team football to anybody in this team but the ones we really see and think are going to take us to the next level, they’re going to be playing a lot of minutes”, as per Fabrizio Romano. 

The 21-year-old defender joined the Premier League club in 2019, and since then has not debuted in the senior team. Instead, Saliba has had three loan stints – first to  Saint-Étienne, then to Nice, and finally, Marseille where he established himself as one of the most promising French defenders. 

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Saliba made 50 appearances across the competition and won Ligue 1’s Young Player of the Year. “I was very proud [to win the Young Player of the Year award] because the league has a lot of good young players, so it’s good for me but I want more”, he said, as per the Arsenal official site. 

Arsenal mainly relied on Benjamin White and Gabriel Magalhaes last season but going by Arteta’s words, could be looking to reintegrate him. 

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Saliba is ready and has been following the English club’s games from his homeland. “When I was on loan I watched every single [Arsenal] game because when I was there some players weren’t. I watched the games to see how they played, so when I was back it would be easier to play with those I hadn’t met before. It’s important that the fans are behind you, and I like it very much. I can’t wait to give back to them”, he said. 

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The French defender has been part of the squad against Everton at Baltimore, and Arteta’s side won 2-0. 

During this time, Saliba’s in contact with the coach and said “We spoke a little bit on Monday and will speak more. My plan is to fight and work with the team, win as much as possible, and grow more.” 

Arsenal is in the US for matches against Orlando City and Chelsea next. Saliba is expected to start in the other two pre-season matches as well.