Mikel Arteta reacts to William Saliba’s display for Arsenal against Chelsea FC
Mikel Arteta offers his thoughts on William Saliba's performance for Arsenal in their 4-0 friendly victory over Chelsea FC
Mikel Arteta has admitted that he has been delighted by what he has seen from William Saliba in pre-season for Arsenal so far this summer.
The defender has linked up with the Arsenal squad in recent weeks after having spent the last three seasons on loan in France following his transfer from Saint-Etienne in 2019.
Saliba earned plenty of admirers for his performances for Marseille last term as he helped them to finish in second place in Ligue 1 behind Paris Saint-Germain.
The 21-year-old also earned his first senior caps for France this year and will now be hoping to prove himself as worthy of a regular spot in the Arsenal first team during the season ahead.
Saliba played the full 90 minutes as Arsenal claimed a dominant 4-0 victory over London rivals Chelsea FC in their pre-season clash on Saturday night.
And Arsenal boss Arteta has admitted that he has been thrilled by what he has seen from the Frenchman in recent days, claiming that he has “huge potential”.
Speaking in his post-match news conference after the win over the Blues, Arteta said: “I am really pleased to see the way he is playing, the way he has adapted to the team, the maturity that he’s shown at 21-years-old, carry on doing it.
“We will keep developing him, he has a huge potential, he is already a top player and we have to make him even better. He looked ready to me today.”
New signing Oleksandr Zinchenko also made his first appearance for Arsenal during the game and played the first half for Arteta’s side.
And Arteta was also pleased by the Ukraine international’s display following his arrival from Manchester City this week.
“He was desperate to play and I knew that,” Arteta said of Zinchenko.
“It was a maximum 45 minutes but you could see straight away he was comfortable. He understands everything that I want, he understands the process and I thought he had a really good game.”
