Arsenal left to rue William Saliba decision after Pablo Mari setback

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Had Arsenal fans been told at the start of the season that Mikel Arteta may deem William Saliba to not be quite ready for the step up at the Emirates, they would have been forgiven for expecting the Europa League to be the competition in which the youngster was handed the majority of his game-time for the Gunners.

The season is now a few months old and Saliba is still awaiting his debut. Unfortunately for the Frenchman however, those hopes of featuring in Europe were dashed before the group-stages.

Arteta left Saliba out of his squad for the competition. It was a surprising decision from the Arsenal boss.

And perhaps, there is an argument to suggest that it may be a decision that Arteta may now rue.

One player who was named in the Gunners’ Europa League squad was Pablo Mari. The Spaniard is yet to play for the club since his loan move was made permanent for £3.6 million (via Hashtag Rubro Negro).

However, it did appear that he would be available for a substantial period of this season before the turn of the year. Football London reported in mid-October that he was expected to make an imminent return to full training.

Mari setback puts microscope on Saliba decision

Unfortunately, his comeback appears to have dealt a setback.

Arsenal confirmed on their official website on Wednesday that Mari is now expected to be back in full training at some point after this month’s international break.

The 27-year-old has now been out for a long time. So, it seems unlikely that Arteta will rush him back into the fold when he returns to training.

That could potentially mean that Mari plays no part in the Europa League group-stages.

Of course, Arteta could not have foreseen the problems Mari would face. But given that he was already set to be out for a lengthy period, it does appear that it was always a gamble to pick Mari over Saliba.

Unfortunately, it currently looks as though that gamble has not paid off.