Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is yet to hand William Saliba his debut and with the 19-year-old failing to secure a loan move away from the club before the transfer window closed last month, the defender doesn’t like he will be getting any chances in the first team ahead of a possible temporary departure in the New Year.
Arteta is convinced that the teenager needs more experience before being given opportunities in the Gunners’ first team, having only made 36 senior appearances in his career, but fans on Twitter think the Spaniard has handled the situation poorly:
I may be wrong but I think Arteta is making his first rookie mistake. And it’s costing us 27 million. The boys confidence is seeping away, not giving him a chance at all is bad.
— Chief owiriwa?????? (@ChiefOwiriwa) November 4, 2020
Not even making the bench boils my blood.
At least find him some sub minutes. I’m certain theres games out there he can get a few of those.
— Tyler (@MiklaTyler) November 4, 2020
I wonder why not give him chance in a cup game or a game where we make a good start then sub him on. Surely he is not that bad right. Slowly he will settle in.
— TakeMeBack (@FebruaryPhantom) November 4, 2020
What is happening to Mavropanos is what is gonna happen with Saliba, loaning and loaning until he will leave the club
— Stéphànos Baraka Otibo (@7th_chorus) November 4, 2020
I don’t want it to sound like I’m knocking Arteta but one thing I miss about Emery is he wasn’t shy when it came to playing youth. Arteta has to be better when it comes to integrating younger players
— Robert Tom (@RobertTom17) November 4, 2020
He rejected loan options
— watch_the_wind (@watchthewind_) November 4, 2020
If Saliba was as good as Gabriel he would have played him but i think like he said he needs time we need to stop acting like we know better than the manager
— MoGunner (@Mogunner14) November 4, 2020
We are going to ruin his career,we should’ve let him stay in France for one more season and now surely he isn’t playing for us this season 🙁
— OrionPax (@OrionPax6969) November 4, 2020
Agree. It has been nothing short of shambles. Not including him in Europa league squad was a ludicrous decision
— KJ (@kartikjan23) November 4, 2020
His partner at his former club; Fofana is already getting epl games at Leicester. Arteta isn’t handling this well at all.
— femi abolaji (@abolajifemi) November 4, 2020
One important thing to point out is that Arteta was not the one who signed Saliba. Although he joined up with the squad in the summer, he was snapped up quite a few months before Arteta took charge.
With that being the case, he is well within his rights to overlook him for the senior squad. However, if he knew he wasn’t ready, there was plenty of time to find him football at another club, and supporters are certainly right to ask questions about why a loan deal couldn’t be sorted out.