Arteta on alert after William Saliba's cryptic response to Arsenal scenario

William Saliba insists he is not thinking about his Arsenal future as he 'pretends he's playing at Marseille for years.'

The Frenchman is set to return to the Emirates in the summer following his loan spell, but whether he will be is a part of Mikel Arteta's plans remains to be seen.

The defender has not made a senior appearance for the Gunners since arriving from St Etienne in the summer of 2019 for £27million.

Saliba has been sent out on loan multiple times, but his most recent stint with Marseille this term has been a huge success. The centre-half has gained invaluable first-team experience and has been hailed as one of the best defenders in Ligue 1.

Have Your Say! Does William Saliba have a future at Arsenal? Comment here.

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But with Ben White and Gabriel forming a brilliant partnership at the back for Arteta 's men, coupled with his lack of playing time in an Arsenal shirt, it's not a foregone conclusion he has a future at the Emirates.

For Saliba, he is not focusing on what will happen in the summer.

He told Eurosport: "I'm on loan. But I pretend I'm there for many years. I'm not thinking about returning to Arsenal [right now]," he added.

"I give myself to Marseille. I don't think about what will happen afterwards. Football is like that. In big teams, there is competition everywhere. if you're afraid of the competition, don't play football."

Despite many questioning Arteta's treatment of Saliba, he has given credit to the Spaniard for bringing him back down to Earth.

The defender compared his lack of game-time to being slapped and believes that lesson of resilience is helping him to perform.

He added: "There are hard times. 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."