‘I will be back with Arsenal’ William Saliba confirms future plans

William Saliba has seemingly confirmed his plans for next season in an interview with French outlet Telefoot ahead of his country’s Nations League clash with Croatia on Monday night.

The French defender has yet to play for Arsenal since joining the club in 2019, instead spending time out on loan with a trio of Ligue 1 sides.

Most recently, and successfully, Saliba spent a season on loan with Marseilles, playing 36 times as he helped the French side to 2nd place in the top flight, as he also helped them to the semi-final of the Europa Conference League.

MARSEILLE, FRANCE – APRIL 10: William Saliba of Marseille during the Ligue 1 Uber Eats match between Olympique de Marseille (OM) and Montpellier HSC (MHSC) at Stade Velodrome on April 10, 2022 in Marseille, France. (Photo by John Berry/Getty Images)

This, understandably, led to questions about his future, with Saliba having just 2 years left on his Arsenal deal and having excelled away from north London.

However, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta spoke of the desire to have the 21-year-old amid his ranks next season, telling TF1 that ‘He has to come back’.

‘He has the experience and the environment necessary to be competitive with us’, he added. ‘If he had stayed with us this year, with a match of Premier League a week, with Ben White and Gabriel, he wouldn’t have had half the playing time he had with Marseille, that’s for sure. For his growth and what he can do next season that wouldn’t have been good. William wasn’t with us because he wouldn’t have had the playing time to gain experience. That’s it, there’s nothing else.’

And now, the decision has seemingly been confirmed by the player himself, with Saliba telling French outlet Telefoot that he still wants to have the chance to play for the Arsenal fans and show his true ability.

‘I belong to Arsenal, I still have two years left. I will be back with Arsenal’, the defender claimed. I have played zero matches and I still want to show them my true face and have the chance to play for these fans and this great club’.

“J’appartiens à Arsenal, il me reste encore deux ans. Je serais à la reprise avec Arsenal. J’ai fait zéro match et j’ai quand même envie de leur montrer mon vrai visage et d’avoir la chance de jouer pour ces supporters et ce grand club.”

Saliba sur son avenir @JulienMaynard pic.twitter.com/PpkmH8k1Va

— Téléfoot (@telefoot_TF1) June 5, 2022

With plenty of football on offer given Arsenal’s return to Europe this season, Saliba is certain to get a chance to nail down a starting berth in the season to come if he wants to.

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Premier League table

#	Team	MP	D	P
1	Manchester City	38	73	93
2	Liverpool FC	38	68	92
3	Chelsea FC	38	43	74
4	Tottenham Hotspur	38	29	71
5	Arsenal FC	38	13	69
6	Manchester United	38	0	58
7	West Ham United	38	9	56
8	Leicester City	38	3	52
9	Brighton & Hove Albion	38	-2	51
10	Wolverhampton Wanderers	38	-5	51
11	Newcastle United	38	-18	49
12	Crystal Palace	38	4	48
13	Brentford FC	38	-8	46
14	Aston Villa	38	-2	45
15	Southampton FC	38	-24	40
16	Everton FC	38	-23	39
17	Leeds United	38	-37	38
18	Burnley FC	38	-19	35
19	Watford FC	38	-43	23
20	Norwich City	38	-61	22

Player	Team	Goals
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	23
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur	23
Ronaldo, Cristiano	Manchester United	18
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur	17
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	16
De Bruyne, Kevin	Manchester City	15
Jota, Diogo	Liverpool FC	15
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City	15
Zaha, Wilfried	Crystal Palace	14
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City	13
Bowen, Jarrod	West Ham United	12
Maddison, James	Leicester City	12
Toney, Ivan	Brentford FC	12
Mount, Mason	Chelsea FC	11
Saka, Bukayo	Arsenal FC	11
Mahrez, Riyad	Manchester City	11
Richarlison	Everton FC	11
Pukki, Teemu	Norwich City	11
Raphinha	Leeds United	11
Watkins, Ollie	Aston Villa	11

Player	Team	Red Cards	Yellow Cards
Mings, Tyrone	Aston Villa	0	11
Xhaka, Granit	Arsenal FC	1	10
Tarkowski, James	Burnley FC	0	11
Firpo, Junior	Leeds United	0	11
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United	0	10
Gallagher, Conor	Crystal Palace	0	10
Brownhill, Josh	Burnley FC	0	10
Bednarek, Jan	Southampton FC	0	10
Bissouma, Yves	Brighton & Hove Albion	0	10
Moreno, Rodrigo	Leeds United	0	9
Neves, Ruben	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0	9
Romeu, Oriol	Southampton FC	0	9
Rudiger, Antonio	Chelsea FC	0	9
Mctominay, Scott	Manchester United	0	9
Salisu, Mohammed	Southampton FC	0	8
Ronaldo, Cristiano	Manchester United	0	8
Toney, Ivan	Brentford FC	0	8
Dennis, Emmanuel	Watford FC	0	7
Richarlison	Everton FC	0	8
Pogba, Paul	Manchester United	1	7

Player	Team	Assists
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	13
Alexander-Arnold, Trent	Liverpool FC	12
Barnes, Harvey	Leicester City	11
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur	10
Bowen, Jarrod	West Ham United	10
Mount, Mason	Chelsea FC	10
Robertson, Andy	Liverpool FC	10
Maddison, James	Leicester City	9
James, Reece	Chelsea FC	9
Pogba, Paul	Manchester United	9
Cancelo, Joao	Manchester City	9
De Bruyne, Kevin	Manchester City	8
Jesus, Gabriel	Manchester City	8
Kulusevski, Dejan	Tottenham Hotspur	8
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur	7
Saka, Bukayo	Arsenal FC	7
Antonio, Michail	West Ham United	7
Lacazette, Alexandre	Arsenal FC	7
Mbeumo, Bryan	Brentford FC	7
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United	6