Although William Saliba got off to a turbulent start to his career at Arsenal, the bridges have been mended since then and manager Mikel Arteta has ‘no doubts that the French defender wants to stay at the club for a long time.

Although William Saliba got off to a turbulent start to his career at Arsenal, the bridges have been mended since then and manager Mikel Arteta has ‘no doubts that the French defender wants to stay at the club for a long time.

Having joined the London giants from Saint Etienne in France for £27million in 2019, Saliba initially found it difficult to break into the Arsenal first team. After being ignored and going on several loan spells, most recently with Marseille in Ligue 1, Saliba returned and broke into the first team of the Gunners this season.

The Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year in 2021/22 has been a rock at the back for Arteta’s side and the club is now looking to extend his future at the Emirates Stadium by tying him down to a new contract. Saliba is in the final two years of his deal but there’s also an option to extend it by an additional year.

Speaking about the topic, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta seemed very confident and made it clear that he has ‘no doubts that the defender will extend his future with the club. However, he also didn’t shy away from admitting that he initially feared whether Saliba’s relationship with Arsenal had been damaged by his turbulent start to life in London.

“I was really impressed and surprised when I spoke to him,” said Arteta.

“The way the relationship started, [I wondered] if there was damage there because he had certain expectations. But he was so committed just to play for Arsenal. If I look at how he talks about the club and how much he wants to be here, I have no doubts that he wants to continue to be here.”

After joining Arsenal from Saint Etienne, the 21-year-old was loaned straight back to his former club in France in order to continue his development. When he returned in 2020, they tried to send him back to Saint Etienne once again but a deal could not be reached before the transfer window came to a close.

As a result, he mostly spent his time with Arsenal’s Under-23s before joining Nice on loan in January 2021. He was loaned once again last season to Marseille where he established himself as one of the most promising defenders in Europe.

He has exceeded all expectations this season, however, and has managed to establish himself within the first team dynamics pretty well. Arsenal fans will be hoping that he puts pen to a new deal pretty soon.