Arteta Judged Only From 2.5 Matches, William Saliba Found It Difficult To Prove Himself

William Saliba (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Nice defender William Saliba complained about Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta's assessment to him, which made it difficult for him to get the chance to play at the Gunners.

"When I saw that the coach changed many things, I also changed. This year there have been many changes. He (Arteta) judged me from only two and a half games. I wanted him to play me more, but he said I was not ready," Saliba said as quoted by Antara from RMC Sport, Tuesday.

"I was waiting for him to give me a chance, but football is like that. When I initially came to Arsenal the league looked very good, so I showed it in training and wanted to train myself to show the coach that I was ready," he added.

Saliba was signed by Arsenal from St Etienne in the summer of 2019 for a transfer fee of around £ 27 million. He was brought in with the hope of strengthening the door bars of the north London club.

He was immediately loaned back to St Etienne and is expected to kick off his return to Arsenal. However, Saliba made only two appearances for Arsenal's Under-23s and never played for the senior team, before he was eventually loaned back to the French League to play at Nice in January.

In Nice, Saliba seemed to have rediscovered its habitat. He won the Club Player of the Year award in January, and it seems to reinforce his belief that he was being missed by Arsenal.

"I'm happy now. I want to play for Nice. The idea that you are part of the team is a better feeling for me," he concluded.