MIKEL ARTETA has admitted that he is ‘fed up’ with William Saliba’s situation at Arsenal.
The £27million defender returned to North London in the summer, after a curtailed loan spell back at Saint-Etienne.
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William Saliba has been limited to Under-23s football this seasonCredit: Getty Images – Getty
While many expected the Frenchman to slot straight into Arteta’s back three, he has found first-team football impossible to come by and is yet to debut for the Gunners.
Reports have circulated in France that Saliba, 19, is ‘fed up’ with his lack of opportunities so far this season.
And his manager feels the same way.
Arteta, 38, said: “I am fed up with the situation because as you could see we tried to find a way in the last few days [of the transfer window] to give him some football.
“I explained that he needed that transition year when we decided to buy him and send him on loan to Saint Etienne, for many reasons that didn’t happen, he didn’t have that transition year and he needs to go through that.
“At the moment, with the amount of central defenders that we have in the team we had to leave him out of the [Europa League] squad, which is painful because we have some injuries and we could have used him, but it’s part of this profession.
“I don’t know [if he will go on loan in January], we certainly tried in the last few days of the transfer window to find the right club and we had it, but at the end of the day we could not make it.
“We will review his situation in the next few weeks, sit down with him as well and see what is the best thing to do. But it will depend on him and other players’ situation as well.”
Arteta has admitted that leaving Saliba out of his Europa League squad was ‘painful’Credit: Getty Images – Getty
Saliba made 17 appearances during an injury-hit loan spell at Saint-Etienne last season, which was ultimately curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic in March.
He had appeared likely to rejoin Les Verts for the 2020-21 campaign.
But the deal fell through, with the French side slamming Arsenal for ‘administrative errors’ in the process.
Saliba has made Arsenal’s matchday squad just once since the Community Shield, remaining unused as his side beat Leicester City 2-0 in the EFL Cup.
He has also featured twice for the Gunners’ Under-23s side.
Mikel Arteta pairs William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes in Arsenal training
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
