“The coach immediately told me that I was not ready”: William Saliba Hits Out At Arteta For Mistreating Him
The William Saliba story at Arsenal turned into one of the flashpoints of Arteta’s reigns this season. With Arsenal failing as a unit, many used the Saliba conundrum to smear Arteta and his lack of understanding as a manager.
Having signed from St. Etienne back in 2019, Saliba eventually joined Arsenal prior to this season after having been loaned back to the French side. And despite been spoken about highly and held in reverence, the 18 year old failed to get a look into Arsenal’s setup.
Arteta’s treatment of the player was put to the sword by many with the club’s ardent supporters boisterously berating the manager for refusing to let Saliba out of his shackles. Despondent, Saliba decided he had finally seen enough with the centreback departing to Nice on a six month loan earlier this week.
William Saliba Hits Out At Arteta For Mistreating Him
Speaking about his situation at Arsenal for the first time since returning to Ligue 1, William Saliba made it blatantly clear that he was beleaguered with Arteta.
“The coach immediately told me that I was not ready,” said Saliba. “I would have at least liked to have had a chance to rediscover my rhythm. But this is football, it’s like that.”
When asked if he has seen the quotes from Mikel Arteta that say that he has been loaned for his own protection Saliba said: “No I have not seen that. Aside from that, I have no intention of responding to what’s been said. I left because I needed to play.”
William Saliba continued: “I have not played for 6 months, not since March.”
“2020 was a hard year for me.”
The comments were a clear jibe at Arsenal who refused to extend the player’s loan at St. Etienne, resulting in the defender missing out on the Coupe de France final.
“We signed a big project that we had some issues with because he hasn’t played enough football in the last eighteen months,” Arteta had earlier said when asked why the player was loaned.
“At that age and in the development phase he is at that is crucial.
