One of the positive thing that has happened to Arsenal, besides selling Mesut Ozil is their effective utilization of the loan market this season as it not only helps players, who are seeking first-team action to play some regular matches but also develop their game and skill and help them grow as a player. One such example being Arsenal’s current no.10 Emile Smith Rowe who was loaned to Huddersfield Town last year and now after getting his form and groove back, he is now excelling by starting in regular matches.
Another player who was loaned and is now showing much signs of improvement is the 19 years old French Centre-back William Saliba. He joined the gunners from St. Etienne of France in July 2019 and spend the 2019/20 season on loan at St. Etienne where he wasn’t able to play because of the Coronavirus pandemic and in the last month that is, on January 2021, he again returned to the French football league as he was now loaned out to another French club, OGC Nice. This loan move was specially made by Arsenal so that Saliba may get more playing time by starting in more regular matches as he only managed to get 2 matches under his belt for Arsenal this season in the EFL Trophy that to in which he was sent-off during a match against AFC Wimbledon in December 2020.
But after moving to OGC Nice, he has already started in seven matches, performing and adapting to their playing style and has shown great signs of improvement in the centre-back position, a position were Arsenal currently are lacking in skill and are committing many errors which are causing them a lot of trouble for their title run.
Recently in an interview with RMC, Saliba said that he was sure that there were many changes that took place in the Arsenal side last year. He said: “When I saw that the coach changed a lot changed for me too. In this year there has been a lot of change. He judged me on two-and-a-half matches. I would have liked for him to play me more. But he told me that I wasn’t ready.” He also said: “I was waiting for him to give me a chance, but football is like that. When I initially came to Arsenal the league looked very good so I showed up to training and wanted to train on my own to show the coach that I was ready.”
He has now shown great interest in playing for Nice by saying, “I am very happy now, I want to play for Nice. The idea when you’re part of a team is a better feeling for me.”
Arteta responded to these criticisms by saying that he was a part of the ‘big project’ and that he will be one of the future stars for the Gunners. He was loaned out in this January so that he can get enough regular match action and gain some experience and improve his game as his 2019/20 season with St. Etienne was halted by the Coronavirus outbreak and couldn’t play enough matches in his ‘transition year’. That is why, Arteta said that Saliba was not ready to play for Arsenal and that its best for him to have another season in Ligue 1 to OGC Nice on loan.
Gunners boss said: “We signed a big project that we had some issues with because he hasn’t played enough football in the last eighteen months.”
He also added, “At that age and in the development phase he is at that is crucial. And I was very conscious when he came back, when he didn’t do the step that he had to do before joining us that to start a relationship with a new manager, with a new club, with new team-mates in a situation where he is not having any game time it’s really difficult and I think it’s really damaging for the future.”
Therefore, Arteta have some big plans for the talented 19 year-old French Defender but Saliba still have some doubts and is seemingly not happy with the Spaniard’s plan as he still says that he was not given enough chances to prove himself that he is upto the level of playing for the Gunners before loaning him to Nice.
