Arsenal counting the £50m cost of Mikel Arteta's ruthless Unai Emery stance

The ingredients were in place for another miserable start to an Arsenal Premier League season.

Just 12 months ago, the newly-promoted Brentford left the Gunners battered and bruised, having been outplayed, outfought and outmuscled in front of a fervent home crowd. Crystal Palace 's Selhurst Park is famous for its raucous atmosphere and it was turned up another notch under the floodlights.

But rather than wilt under the Friday Night Lights as they had one year previous, Mikel Arteta's side stood up to the challenge and were well worthy of the 2-0 victory which got their campaign off to the perfect start.

Arsenal have spent big once again this summer - and new signings Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zincheko both enjoyed impressive debuts for their new club. However, the ex-Manchester City duo were outshone by the third and final player making their Gunners bow - William Saliba.

"He looked the business, he looked the part," Jamie Carragher said after the Frenchman was awarded Man of the Match for his display. "At such a young age, the way he dealt with that second half… he looked the real deal."

Manchester United legend Gary Neville went as far to compare him to his legendary Old Trafford team-mate Rio Ferdinand, such was his cool, composed and physical display.

His presence provided a marked difference to a Gunners side who appeared to be growing and maturing under the tutelage of Arteta. Such was the class of his performance however, that it inevitably led to questions about why it had taken him so long to be integrated.

Signed in the summer of 2019 for nearly £30million, there was a growing fear that he would never realise his potential in north London. Spells with St. Etienne, Nice and - then last season - Marseille, the 21-year-old has had to earn his chance to impress.

That wasn't supposed to be the plan. When Emery toasted his arrival back in July 2019, the Spaniard suggested that he would have one season away, before getting his chance with his parent club.

He explained: "We're delighted William is joining us. Many teams wanted him but he decided he wanted to come to us and be part of our future. He will stay in France next season for more experience and then we look forward to him joining our group."

Unfortunately for Saliba - and Emery - the plan quickly changed, when the manager failed to see out the remainder of the year, when he was replaced by Arteta. And following the Covid-19 affected 2019/20 campaign, Emery's successor was unconvinced he was ready to step into the fold.

Weeks after returning from his first loan spell, Arteta opted to omit him from both his Premier League and Europa League squads, leaving him as little more than a spectator. Football.London reported at the time that there was a feeling he was being ostracised due to the fact he was an Emery signing.

In January of 2021 he would join Nice, but Arteta was still unable to envisage an Arsenal back four with Saliba at the heart of it. Instead, in the summer of that year, the Gunners boss splashed the cash on Benjamin White, signing the Brighton defender at a fee of £50m.

White's first season in north London didn't go badly. On the contrary if anything. But such has been Saliba's impact, the England international has already been shifted out of his centre-back berth - instead being utilised as an auxiliary right-back vs Palace.

When Takehiro Tomiyasu returns, there is a chance White drops out of the XI altogether given Saliba made such a massive impression in his maiden Premier League appearance. If the ex-Brighton man finds himself on the outside looking in, there may be some question marks over shelling out the kind of fee they did to sign him in the first place.

There will also be a case of 'what if' and whether had Arteta swallowed his pride and integrated the Emery signing more swiftly, it may have allowed the Gunners to spend that £50m elsewhere within his squad.