Mikel Arteta’s William Saliba plan has paid off with Frenchman set for Arsenal return to London

Has there been a more unpredictable story surrounding Arsenal than that of whether William Saliba has a future at Arsenal? It is difficult to find something more chaotic than that of the young French defender.

The Arsenal youngster has gathered quite the following despite never having played a senior competitive match for the club. Saliba has gone on three loans since he signed for nearly £30 million in 2019 with his most recent at Marseille drawing quite the praise.

He has impressed so much in fact he has now made back-to-back French national side call-ups. There is a real possibility that he will make the World Cup squad for Qatar.

William Saliba was quoted as being open to returning to Marseille to play Champions League football. However, it appears that the doorway back to OM has been closed by Arteta who is expecting him to return.

“He has to come back,” Arteta told . “He has the experience and has been in the necessary environment in order to be competitive with us.

“If he had stayed with us this year, where we had one Premier League game every week, with Ben White and Gabriel [Magalhaes], he wouldn’t have had half the playing time he had with Marseille, that’s for sure. For his growth and what he can do next season, that wouldn’t have been good.

“William wasn’t with us because he wouldn’t have had the playing time to gain experience. That’s it, there’s nothing else.”

Despite facing significant criticism for how Arteta has ‘handled’ the Saliba situation, if the reality transpires that he does indeed return and integrate then it will be difficult to argue that his management was anything but appropriate. Although it may be tricky for some to see it that way.

Particularly because the club should have