William Saliba will make his second debut for Arsenal in their pre-season friendly against Everton on Saturday, football.london understands. The French centre back joined the Gunners from St. Etienne in 2019 for a fee in the region of £27million, but is still yet to play a senior competitive match for the club.
Following his initial signing he was sent back out on loan to St. Etienne for a season but returned early after the 2019/20 Ligue 1 season was suspended due to COVID-19. Upon his return he did feature in a pre-season friendly fixture against MK Dons and was an unused substitute in the Community Shield victory over Liverpool.
However, after that the 21-year-old failed to make a matchday squad for any of Arsenal's Premier League games in the first half of the 2020/21 season, and was left out of the club's Europa League squad all together before being sent out on loan to Nice for the remainder of the campaign.
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With the arrival of Ben White last summer it was then decided that Saliba's development would be best served by another loan, leading him to spend another season back in France, this time with Marseille, where his performances saw him named as Ligue 1's young player of the year. award for his performances.
Now, though, he has made his long awaited return and is set to feature in their pre-season friendly against Everton on Saturday night at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
Manager Mikel Arteta has already indicated that Saliba is part of his plans for this season despite stories suggesting that he could leave if he is not guaranteed first team football ahead of the World Cup. "He needs to come back," Arteta said in May. "He has the experience and environment necessary to be competitive for us."
For his part, Saliba has indicated that he intends to stay and fight for his place this year. "My plan is to fight and work with the team, win as much as possible, and grow more," the Frenchman told Arsenal.com when asked about his intentions for the season.
He faces competition from Ben White, Rob Holding, Pablo Mari, Gabriel and Reuell Walters for a place in the team at centre back among the Arsenal players who have travelled to the States. After playing against Everton on Saturday, the Gunners will then travel to Orlando to take on Orlando City and Chelsea, before returning home to round of their pre-season fixtures against Sevilla in the Emirates Cup.
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