William Saliba was signed by Arsenal in the summer of 2019 and as part of the deal was immediately sent back on loan from the club he was signed from, that being Saint-Etienne.

Arsenal fans have been excited about the prospect of watching him play since that summer in 2019, so were thrilled to see him in attendance at the FA Cup Final back in August of this year.

However, despite making some appearances in the later than usual pre-season, it was revealed that near the end of the transfer window for international deals, that Mikel Arteta was looking to send Saliba out on loan again.

A deal to yet again send him back to Saint-Etienne was on the cards, but that fell through last minute on deadline day.

With deals only being able to be completed domestically until the end of this week, links to the Championship, including with Brentford, have been proposed.

It would appear though that Arteta has made another U-turn over the young Frenchman's future, as he looks set to stay until January at least, according to reports.

But would a potential loan move benefit both himself and Arsenal?

  • Inexperience 

 

As much if a top rated player he is, there is no denying that Saliba hasn't had the experience at the top level in order to succeed in the Premier League.

Owing to his 6ft 4in height it is often hard to forget he is only 19 years old and so still a very young player.

Of course there are many top youth players breaking the ranks into first team football, including at Arsenal themselves with the likes of Bukayo Saka. However, Saliba will be adjusting to a completely new country and arguably a much more competitive league.

Some might question then why Gabriel Magalhães has so easily slotted in as a first team regular in his first season in English football. 

But Gabriel has been playing senior football for four years, while Saliba has only being playing it for two years with 16 appearances, the most he has achieved in a single season.

Having been left out of the Europa League squad, this severely limits his chances of getting any meaningful game time and so his best chance of getting it, could be away from North London.

Getting a loan to a side in the Championship will no doubt get him used to the competitiveness of English football.

  • Oversized squad 

One of the disappointments for the Arsenal hierarchy during this summer transfer window was being unable to shift out high wage fringe players.

As a result, the size of The Gunners squad is undoubtedly oversaturated.

At centre back Arsenal also have: Gabriel, Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi, Calum Chambers, Pablo Mari and David Luiz.

Though three of those names are on the side lines at the moment, they will return soon and Arsenal can't afford to be paying so many players who aren't actually playing.

This again limits his chances to play, especially up against much more experienced individuals.

  •  Talent and composure

Despite his inexperience and age, Saliba has already shown the World what a talented player he is and what he can become.

His ability to play confidently out from the back would fit straight in with the style of play being implemented by Arteta and was showcased in his showing against MK Dons, in pre season.

This ability for passing out from the back would also be aided by his 87.3% pass completion rate, an impressive stat for any defender.

Though the current crop of centre backs at Arsenal are experienced, some are also ageing and with that are slowing down. Saliba on the other hand has a decent turn of pace and is more than capable to deal with the pacey forwards in the Premier League, which he already proved during his time in France.

Physically he is very hard to play against and so the questions about dealing with the aggression and competitiveness of the Premier League should be no problem. He also knows how to win the ball back without committing a foul, having only made 0.53 fouls per game last season.

His height would also be an advantage for The Gunners backline. Set pieces have been a big problem and so bringing a player with a 70.6% aerial dual win percentage in to the starting eleven would make perfect sense.

Arsenal's defence has been the big problem for many years and so many would be bemused the club would even think about letting a player with all these qualities leave, even for a season.

Clearly there are benefits either way of letting Saliba stay or go and ultimately it will come down to where he lies in Arteta's plans, but with less than a week to get a move, it's looking more likely that he will remain until January at least, and hopefully he'll get chances to prove his worth to this Arsenal side.