Mikel Arteta has confirmed William Saliba will not feature in Arsenal's Premier League game against West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Saliba, 22, started all of Arsenal's league fixtures this season before suffering a back injury against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League last month. That has caused him to miss their last three outings, and it could be a while before the Frenchman returns to action.
Arteta hopes Saliba will be available again within the "next few weeks", but it's simply too early to provide an exact date. The Arsenal manager will be keen for the centre-back to play again this season, as he's played a crucial role in their Premier League title charge.
Arteta spoke to the press on Friday afternoon. When asked about Saliba's fitness, he said: "William is still not available. He’s progressing well and we are hopeful that we are going to have him available in the next few weeks but we’ll have to see."
Saliba's time at Arsenal has been intriguing, to say the least. The talent was signed from Saint-Etienne in a £27million deal in July 2019 but struggled to break into the first team. He spent much of the next three years on loan at Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille.
It was that final loan spell at Marseille that persuaded Arteta to finally give Saliba a chance at the Emirates. The defender made 52 appearances in all competitions last season and earned a call-up to the France squad, as well as winning Ligue 1's Young Player of the Year award.
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Saliba is now a regular at Arsenal and has formed a solid partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes. Rob Holding is doing an admirable job deputising, but it is hard to replace a defender of Saliba's quality. For Arsenal's sake, it's important he returns shortly.
Saliba was not spotted at Arsenal's opening training session earlier this week. When asked if Saliba is out running on the grass, Arteta said: "He’s not far, We’re starting to do that, obviously we need to be cautious because of the injury. But he’s evolving well."
Arsenal have a great chance of winning their first Premier League title in 19 years. They are six points ahead of champions Manchester City having played a game more and will need to keep up their good form at the London Stadium this weekend.
Man City have won five consecutive Premier League games and are expected to extend their run at home to relegation candidates Leicester on Saturday afternoon. Arteta hopes his players will get a bit of luck between now and the end of May.
The Arsenal boss said: "You need luck in the title race. That luck and what you think is going to happen. Sometimes it’s about inches and they have to go your way."
Arsenal's biggest game of the season takes place on April 26, when they travel to the Etihad to face Pep Guardiola's side in a clash that will determine the title favourites.
