Arteta draws up Arsenal's long-term plans for Saliba

Deemed not ready for the English top-flight, the big-money acquisition has been allowed to leave before even making his first-team debut.

Mikel Arteta is confident that William Saliba still has a future at Arsenal after the club let him leave on loan to Nice for the rest of the season.

Saliba did not get the opportunity to make his senior team despite being an Arsenal player for 18 months.

The 19-year-old, who spent the last season on loan at Nice after completing a £27 million move to the London side, was not registered for the Premier League or Europa League squads.

He was restricted to U-23 action with an abundance of defensive options available to the Gunners.

There has been much speculation regarding his future at Arsenal, and Arteta insists he is still counting on Saliba and expects him to start making an impact for his parent club upon his return in 2021-22.

Not sure Saliba's Nice debut will have told Arsenal much they didn't already know. He can be rash in the tackle but the raw ingredients are there and he passes well.

91.8% pass completion, three tackles, three clearances, one interception and 100% pass completion in Brest half.
— James Benge (@jamesbenge) January 6, 2021

“We signed a big project that we had some issues with because he’s not played enough football over the past 18 months and at that age, and in the development phase he is at, that is crucial,” Arteta said, via Metro.

“I was always very conscious when he came back, when he didn’t do the step that he had to before joining us, that to start a relationship with a new manager, a new club, new team-mates where he is not having any game time is really difficult and I think it is damaging for the future.

“I want to protect the player that we signed and the future we have alongside him and the best way to do that is to give him minutes to play.

“He has been really good, it has been a difficult few months for him to cope with that situation but I see the development that he has made, the progression that he has shown over the months and now he is ready to compete.

“He is going to a really strong league as well, a league he knows really well, he has experience [there] and he needs to play as many games as possible to be ready for us from next season.

“He will come back for pre-season and he will be with us, and hopefully he will come back after playing a number of games and [with] his performances raising and his development progressing in the right way. That is why we made that decision.

“I know that sometimes it is difficult to explain or understand after the money the club spent bringing him in, sending him on loan, but a lot of things have happened to him, he is a long-term player for us and we need to protect him as well.

“Giving him three or four games is not enough for him, he needs much more than that but what has happened over the past 18 months, he has gone through some personal problems as well that we have to try to help him, and stay as close as possible to him, and now he needs to play, play and play and enjoy his profession as well.

“In order for him to do that I think we have found the right club with him, he is very happy to go there right now and hopefully he can enjoy his football and be ready for us next season.”