‘He didn’t speak with me’: 22-year-old Arsenal player says Arteta wouldn’t talk to him for a week last year

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William Saliba has shared how Mikel Arteta went a week without speaking to him when the defender returned to Arsenal for pre-season last summer.

Saliba was speaking to the Daily Mail as he prepares for his second season as a stalwart of the Gunners side.

It is almost easy to forget now, but there was huge uncertainty surrounding William Saliba a year ago. Despite signing for Arsenal in 2019, the centre-back went into last season still awaiting the chance to make his competitive debut for the Gunners.

If it had been down to supporters, Saliba would have been in the team much sooner. The fans were hugely impressed by the 22-year-old, particularly during his time with Marseille.

Arteta went a week without speaking to Saliba last year

And they got their wish ahead of last season. Saliba was absolutely outstanding as the Gunners went agonisingly close to winning the Premier League title.

But he certainly had to prove a point. In fact, Saliba has now suggested that Mikel Arteta went a week without speaking to him at the start of pre-season a year ago.

“He said hello to me the first day,” he told the Daily Mail. ‘And then after he didn’t speak with me.”

“I told myself to be good on the pitch, to give him a solution, to tell him: ‘Yeah I’m ready’.”

“To tell him on the pitch is the better way… I knew one day he’ll come to speak to me.”

Arsenal fans are no stranger to some of Arteta’s quirky tactics. Some have led to ridicule. But many have proved to be absolutely inspired.

The Daily Mail notes that Arteta was actually won over within a couple of training sessions. So it was clearly a deliberate tactic from the Spaniard.

Obviously, it is impossible to know for certain whether Arsenal made the right call holding Saliba back for as long as they did. But you simply cannot criticise the club for that stance now because the defender has been absolutely sensational.

Perhaps he would have been ready sooner. But ultimately, you have to think, in hindsight, that Mikel Arteta has handled the situation unbelievably well.