William Saliba contract detail that summed up exactly what Mikel Arteta thinks of him

William Saliba has agreed a new five-year deal at Arsenal as one of Mikel Arteta's key men in defence. But there was once a time that the pair didn't see eye to eye on the centre-half's potential in north London.

When Saliba first signed for the Gunners in 2019, he didn't slot straight into the back line. In fact, it took three years for him to actually play a competitive fixture for Arsenal.

Unai Emery initially signed the defender before sending him back to Saint-Etienne on loan for the season. Arteta took over in the December following Emery's sacking and prompty ordered Saliba away the following January, this time to Nice.

This didn't sit well with the young defender, who publicly opposed the loan move at the time. Speaking in 2021, the Frenchman said: "The coach immediately told me that I was not ready. I would have at least liked to have had a chance to rediscover my rhythm. But this is football; it's like that."

By his third loan spell to Marseille, fans were beginning to lose hope that Saliba would ever be the answer to their defensive woes. But one person did believe in him, and it was the single force that had pushed him to develop away from north London.

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In all of Saliba's loan contracts, there was never any option or obligation to buy clauses inserted. This is a strong indicator that Arteta had always viewed the centre-back as an integral part of his project at the club.

Arteta almost said as much during Saliba's first loan spell at Saint-Etienne. In 2020, the Spaniard claimed: "For many reasons, that wasn't the transition year that he needed because he had a lot of injuries, some personal injuries and also with COVID and the French league getting cancelled, he didn't have that year.

"He needs that year of transition and we are trying to make the right decisions for him to give him the best transitional year for him to have the player we want in our future."

While this year of transition turned into three, Saliba has now become one of the most prolific defenders Arsenal has had in recent times. His partnership with Gabriel has seen plenty of success, conceding just 29 goals in the entire Premier League campaign last year.

On his own, Saliba is a top-drawer defender; in the 15 games the Gunners have played without him since his debut in August 2022, they conceded more shots and goals, with a 46.7% win rate compared to a 67.3% when he is in the side.

Now, he has committed his future until 2030 with the Gunners and looks more settled than ever in north London - a far cry from his loan days just a couple of years ago.

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