William Saliba revealed that he “doubted” whether he would ever make it as an Arsenal player after a rocky start to life in England’s capital—but the talismanic Frenchman now boasts a very different mindset.
Saliba was signed while Unai Emery was manager of Arsenal back in 2019. Part of the agreement with Saint-Étienne stipulated that the centre back would remain at the Ligue 1 club on loan for another season, ensuring that by the time he arrived at the Emirates there was a new man in the dugout.
Mikel Arteta did not immediately take to Saliba, who was a gifted but undoubtedly much rawer version of his current self when he rocked up in north London aged 19. Arsenal’s new boss didn’t afford the teenager a single senior minute during their first six months together, with Saliba instead shunted aside to the U23s before returning to France for a half-season on loan at Nice.
“It was a bit hard because I arrived from France, then went back on loan, then six months after I came back here, I went back to France again,” Saliba recalled in an interview with Arsenal’s official website.
"Six months there, then I changed club, then I came back here. So it was difficult. I was living in a hotel when I came here at first, then I found a house but went back to France, so when I came back after that I wanted to settle down quickly.”
“I had some doubts because when you go on loan two or three times, you think maybe it’s not here that I will play,” he candidly admitted. “But it's like this, in football you have some doubts sometimes, but you have to make sure you forget your doubts and you move forward, and that’s what I did.
“So I went on loan, I kept going to improve. Then I came back here stronger. When I came back I played almost every game. When you have a new career, you have to adapt because you will have some moments where things won’t go how you want. So you have to adapt and of course you have to be strong mentally to be prepared for anything.”
Heading into the 2022–23 campaign, Saliba had been given three years to mature as a player and a person. Arteta clearly accepted the growth and named him in the starting XI for the first game of the season away to Crystal Palace. Saliba oversaw a clean sheet in a 2–0 win which would set the tone for the next three-and-a-half years, a period which has seen him only miss out on minutes through injury.
Saliba’s Rocky Early Arsenal Days
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| July 25, 2019 | Signs for Arsenal from Saint-Étienne |
| July 26, 2019 | Sent back on loan to Saint-Étienne |
| June 30, 2020 | Returns to Arsenal permanently |
| First half of 2020–21 season | Fails to make a single Premier League matchday squad |
| Jan. 4, 2021 | Sent on loan to Nice in Ligue 1 |
| June 30, 2021 | Returns from Nice loan spell |
| July 15, 2021 | Sent on loan to Marseille |
| May 23, 2022 | Wins Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year |
| June 30, 2022 | Returns from Marseille loan spell |
| Aug. 5, 2022 | Makes Premier League debut 1,107 days after signing for Arsenal |
Saliba: ‘No Hesitation’ in Picking Arsenal Over Real Madrid
Such has been Saliba’s prodigious rise over those shaky first three years on Arsenal’s books, the 24-year-old is widely considered to be one of the best in the world in his position.
That reputation has underpinned Arsenal’s run of four successive title challenges—since the Frenchman’s debut in the competition, the Gunners have conceded 116 goals in 130 games, comfortably the best defensive record of any ever-present team in the division during this period. However, it has also led to outside interest.
As Saliba approached the conclusion of the contract he first signed back in 2019, talk of a rival bid from Real Madrid was rife. Arsenal’s No. 2 eventually quashed those rumours by signing a long-term contract extension with the Gunners in September and he revealed that the thought process behind that decision was straightforward.
“Everything was complete for me,” Saliba shrugged. “We have a good team, we have a good coach, we have good staff. And I'm sure that the future here will be very good, so there was no hesitation to extend my contract with Arsenal.
“I spoke with my agent and with the coach as well, but it was more on me than anyone else,” he explains. “I had to think by myself and to be honest it was easy because I knew that I wanted to stay here and achieve great things. So for me it was an easy decision.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Doubts’—William Saliba Makes Honest Admission Over Arsenal Career.