William Saliba hits out at Mikel Arteta over Arsenal treatment

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 08 January 2021

William Saliba admits his frustration at the fact that he was not given more opportunities to prove himself at Arsenal before joining Nice on loan.

Arsenal outcast William Saliba does not believe that Mikel Arteta gave him a fair chance to prove himself upon his arrival at the Emirates Stadium.

The 19-year-old recently completed a loan move back to Ligue 1 with Nice after failing to make a single competitive appearance for the senior Arsenal team this season.

Saliba was thrown straight into Les Aiglons' starting lineup despite his lack of game time in recent months, and the defender has admitted that he would have liked more opportunities to make a name for himself at Arsenal.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Saliba said: "The coach immediately told me that I was not ready. I would have at least liked to have had a chance to rediscover my rhythm. But this is football, it's like that."

Saliba played the full 90 minutes on his Nice debut, but he was unable to prevent Adrian Ursea's men falling to a 2-0 defeat to Brest on Wednesday evening.

The former Saint-Etienne man is expected to return to Arsenal in the summer despite recent talk of a possible extension of his Nice loan until 2022.