'You are nobody!' – Saliba reveals how he reacted to Arteta's Arsenal snub

William Saliba insists being snubbed by Mikel Arteta helped bring him back to reality.

The defender completed a move from Saint-Etienne to Arsenal in the summer of 2019 for fee in the region of £27m.

But fast forward two years and Saliba has still not made a Premier League appearance for the Gunners after being left out of Arteta’s squads.

That meant he could only play in the Under 23s before he was sent out on loan to Saint-Etienne and then a six-month loan to Nice.

Saliba would then leave north London again Ligue 1 in July 2021, joining Marseille for the 2021-2022 campaign.

His exclusion from Arteta’s plans have left Arsenal fans baffled and it seems his exile also left the 20-year-old confused.

‘There are hard times,’ Saliba told Eurosport. ‘I hadn’t played a game for six months.

‘You have to fight in a career. We must take that as a lesson to go further. It gave me a little slap to say: “You are nobody!” You can be bought for 30 million euros, arrive in a club and we put you aside.

‘I took this experience by being positive. I feed on it. I know what it’s like not to play for six months.

‘Today, I want to play every game. It puts the ideas back in place.

‘Before arriving at Arsenal, I said to myself: “Who am I going to play with?” And then you are not even in the group in the Premier League.

‘It gives you a good slap, it feels good. It brings you back to the reality.’

Marseille do not have the option to make Saliba’s loan move permanent at the end of the season but for now the Frenchman is focused on helping the Ligue 1 side and not his future at Arsenal.

‘I’m on loan,’ he added. ‘But I pretend I’m there for many years. I’m not thinking about returning to Arsenal [right now].

‘I give myself to Marseille. I don’t think about what will happen afterwards.’

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