'Arteta immediately told me that I was not ready' : Saliba

William Saliba's non-appearances for Arsenal this season have raised eyebrows given his hefty price tag and the expectations that came with his quality in France.

However, the Frenchman explains that Mikel Arteta told him straight away that he was not ready for regular senior football in England.

"My first six months were difficult because I was coming from a period where I wasn’t able to train because I was at home because of Covid-19," Saliba was quoted by Daily Mirror as saying

"I couldn’t train outside, couldn’t play. I arrived there as they were finishing the league season, so I was training alone.

"As soon as they came back from holidays, we quickly had the first friendly matches where I lacked rhythm and was a bit insufficient physically.

"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,".

William joined Nice on loan for the rest of the season and Arteta expressed hope that he will have what he needs in France: regular minutes. The Spaniard also said that Saliba's disrupted last season was made worse by personal problems - so he wanted to protect the young centre-back.

Let's just keep our fingers crossed that Wilo does well at Nice - he has already made his debut there impressed with a blistering Cruyff turn to dribble out of a tight spot - among other things.