William Saliba continues to jeopardise Arsenal career after aiming another jab at Mikel Arteta

By Conor Laird Published: February 8, 2021 8:44 pmLast Updated: February 8, 2021 8:55 pm

On-loan Arsenal defender William Saliba has this evening accused Mikel Arteta of being overly hasty in his judgement of the stopper’s talents.

Nice switch

The major transfer news at the Emirates early last month of course came in the form of confirmation that Saliba had departed north London for the 2nd-half of the campaign.

In a post across the club’s social media platforms, Arsenal announced that their out-of-favour young defender had returned to his home country with OGC Nice, on a 6-month loan:

This of course came with Saliba having failed to garner a single first-team appearance under Mikel Arteta over the opening half of the campaign.

POTM

Despite his struggles for game-time at the Emirates, though, Saliba has since been plugged directly into the backline of his new club.

The 19-year-old has earned starts in all of Nice’s last 7 outings, helping the club to a pair of clean sheets along the way.

And though Les Aiglons, all told, have endured a largely hit-and-miss spell of form over the course of this stretch, Saliba, for the most part, has impressed.

Nice’s French defender William Saliba (L) is challenged by Metz’s French forward Thierry Ambrose during the French L1 football match between Football Club de Metz and OGC Nice at the Saint-Symphorien Stadium in Longeville-Les-Metz, eastern France on January 9, 2021. (Photo by JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN / AFP) (Photo by JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP via Getty Images)

The young Frenchman has continued to showcase flashes of his unquestionable potential, at the heart of a less than solid Nice backline.

In fact, he was even recognised for his recent efforts with the award for the club’s Player of the Month for January over the weekend:

‘Told me I wasn’t ready’

Such fine form, in turn, has inevitably led to fresh excitement amongst the Arsenal faithful, amid hopes that Saliba will go on to play a prominent role in north London from next season on.

As outlined above, however, if the latest comments on the part of the Frenchman himself are anything to go by, then he appears to remain in possession of at least some degree of ill will towards the man in charge at the Emirates.

Speaking in an interview with RMC Sport this evening, Saliba was again drawn on his difficulties at Arsenal.

This comes just days after the stopper openly delved into the details of his disappointment with the Gunners during an extensive sit down with L’Equipe.

This, though, did not stop Saliba from taking full advantage of the opportunity to lay bare his frustrations once more, with the teen having aimed a less than subtle dig at Mikel Arteta, in suggesting that the Spaniard did not provide him with ample time to prove himself:

‘He judged me on two-and-a-half matches.’

‘I would have liked for him to play me more. But he told me I wasn’t ready. I was waiting for him to give me a chance, but football is like that.’

‘The idea when you’re part of a team is a better feeling for me.’

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# Team MP D P 1 Manchester City FC 22 29 50 2 Manchester United FC 23 19 45 3 Leicester City FC 23 14 43 4 Liverpool FC 23 15 40 5 Chelsea FC 23 14 39 6 West Ham United FC 23 6 39 7 Everton FC 21 6 37 8 Tottenham Hotspur FC 22 14 36 9 Aston Villa FC 21 12 35 10 Arsenal FC 23 4 31 11 Leeds United 21 -2 29 12 Southampton FC 22 -8 29 13 Crystal Palace FC 22 -10 29 14 Wolverhampton Wanderers FC 23 -8 27 15 Brighton & Hove Albion FC 23 -5 25 16 Newcastle United FC 23 -13 25 17 Burnley FC 22 -15 23 18 Fulham FC 22 -14 15 19 West Bromwich Albion 23 -36 12 20 Sheffield United FC 23 -22 11 Player Team Goals Salah, Mohamed Liverpool FC 16 Kane, Harry Tottenham Hotspur FC 13 Fernandes, Bruno Manchester United FC 13 Son, Heung Min Tottenham Hotspur FC 13 Calvert-Lewin, Dominic Everton FC 13 Bamford, Patrick Leeds United 12 Vardy, Jamie Leicester City FC 11 Wilson, Callum Newcastle United FC 10 Watkins, Ollie Aston Villa FC 10 Zaha, Wilfried Crystal Palace FC 9 Gundogan, Ilkay Manchester City FC 9 Rashford, Marcus Manchester United FC 8 Sterling, Raheem Manchester City FC 8 Lacazette, Alexandre Arsenal FC 8 Soucek, Tomas West Ham United FC 8 Ings, Danny Southampton FC 7 Mane, Sadio Liverpool FC 7 Barnes, Harvey Leicester City FC 7 Maupay, Neal Brighton & Hove Albion FC 7 Grealish, Jack Aston Villa FC 6 Player Team Red Cards Yellow Cards Bellerin, Hector Arsenal FC 0 7 Gallagher, Conor West Bromwich Albion 0 7 Egan, John Sheffield United FC 1 6 Bissouma, Yves Brighton & Hove Albion FC 1 6 Milivojevic, Luka Crystal Palace FC 1 6 Maguire, Harry Manchester United FC 0 6 Lundstram, John Sheffield United FC 1 5 Evans, Jonny Leicester City FC 0 6 Kante, N`Golo Chelsea FC 0 6 Hayden, Isaac Newcastle United FC 0 6 Grealish, Jack Aston Villa FC 0 5 Ward-Prowse, James Southampton FC 0 5 Klich, Mateusz Leeds United 0 5 Doucoure, Abdoulaye Everton FC 0 5 Reid, Bobby Fulham FC 0 5 McGinn, John Aston Villa FC 0 5 Hojbjerg, Pierre Tottenham Hotspur FC 0 5 Shaw, Luke Manchester United FC 0 5 Westwood, Ashley Burnley FC 0 5 Dunk, Lewis Brighton & Hove Albion FC 1 4 Player Team Assists Kane, Harry Tottenham Hotspur FC 11 Grealish, Jack Aston Villa FC 10 Fernandes, Bruno Manchester United FC 9 De Bruyne, Kevin Manchester City FC 9 Son, Heung Min Tottenham Hotspur FC 6 Rashford, Marcus Manchester United FC 6 Digne, Lucas Everton FC 6 Maddison, James Leicester City FC 5 Ward-Prowse, James Southampton FC 5 Werner, Timo Chelsea FC 5 Robertson, Andrew Liverpool FC 5 Cresswell, Aaron West Ham United FC 5 Bamford, Patrick Leeds United 4 Vardy, Jamie Leicester City FC 4 Wilson, Callum Newcastle United FC 4 Sterling, Raheem Manchester City FC 4 Firmino, Roberto Liverpool FC 4 Harrison, Jack Leeds United 4 Pereira, Matheus West Bromwich Albion 4 Adams, Che Southampton FC 4