Mikel Arteta 'fed up' with William Saliba's situation at Arsenal

Mikel Arteta has stunningly said that he is 'fed up' with William Saliba's situation at Arsenal. The Gunners manager spoke to the media ahead of their match in the UEFA Europa League against Molde and shed light on the Frenchman's struggles at the club.

Arsenal signed Saliba last summer and loaned the defender back to his former club, Saint-Etienne, in Ligue1. The €30 million signing returned to the club earlier this year and his manager is not happy with him not playing regularly this year.

Arteta on William Saliba's progress behind the scenes at #AFC. "He's in a much better place. He’s feeling a lot more confident, his language is improving & he’s starting to understand much better what we’re doing physically. Things are progressively getting better and better."

— Sam Dean (@SamJDean) October 28, 2020

Arteta claims he wanted the defender to leave on loan and spend a "transition year" playing week in and week out at another club. However, the move did not occur, and the center-back is still at Arsenal, having fallen further down the pecking order after the arrival of summer signing Gabriel Magalhaes. The manager said:

"I'm fed up with the situation because as you could see, we tried to find a way in the last few days [of the transfer window] to give him some football. I explained that he needed that transition year when we decided to buy him and send him on loan to Saint-Etienne."

"For many reasons, that didn't happen and he didn't have that transition year. He needs to go through that and, at the moment, with the amount of central defenders that we have in the team, we had to let him out of the squad which is painful. After that, we had some injuries and we could have used him but it's part of this profession."

Arsenal to re-evaluate Saliba's future in January, claims Arteta

Arsenal defender William Saliba has struggled to adapt to the Premier League so far

When asked if Saliba could be heading out on loan in January, Arteta did not give a concrete answer. The Arsenal manager admitted that he wants to sit down with the player and talk to him before making a decision on his future. He said:

"Well, I don't know. We certainly tried in the last few days of the transfer window to find the right club and we had him, but at the end of the day we could not make it and we will review the situation in the next few weeks and sit down with him as well and see what is the best thing to do. But it will depend on him and other players' situations as well."

Arteta admits Saliba could go out on loan in January. He says he is as 'fed up' with the situation as the defender is. Situation will be reviewed in in the coming weeks.

— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) November 4, 2020

Saliba was reportedly a target for Fulham, but the Cottagers could not lure him to the club before the transfer deadline. The Premier League side could make another move to sign him later this season, should their defense fail to improve between now and the turn of the year.