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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has claimed that he’s seen youngster William Saliba progress since he linked up with the squad in the summer, albeit his development will now continue away from the Emirates Stadium after leaving this month on loan.

The 19-year-old has completed a move on loan to French top-flight club Nice until the end of the season, making his debut for them on Wednesday night during a Ligue 1 fixture.

He’s yet to make his first-team debut for the Gunners and hasn’t had a look-in this season with the senior group, but is considered a major talent with a bright future.

The French defender cost Arsenal £27million (BBC) and it remains to be seen if he’ll go down as a flop.

He is an strong, quick and agile centre-back that has played for the Under-23s team this campaign, but is now getting first-team minutes with Nice.

Arteta, who decided to overlook Saliba in the first half of the season, still feels like he’s seen an improvement in him.

“He has been really good, it has been a difficult few months for him to cope with that situation but I see the development that he has made, the progression that he has shown over the months and now he is ready to compete,” Arteta said, as quoted by the club’s official website.

“He is going to a really strong league as well, a league he knows really well, he has experience [there] and he needs to play as many games as possible to be ready for us from next season.”

TBR’s View:

Saliba’s exclusion from the Arsenal side confused supporters throughout the first half of the season, but ultimately the club didn’t feel he was ready for Premier League action and didn’t wnat to throw him in the deep end.

He’s previously played in the French top-flight, which should make his current loan fairly smooth.

There is certainly a gap at the North London club for an emerging centre-half to break into the XI and the next few months are crucial for him to try impress Spanish boss Arteta.