William Saliba has suffered a minor ankle injury which reportedly kept him out of France’s latest training session ahead of their second European Championship clash with the Netherlands. Saliba started the tournament despite previous criticisms from head coach Didier Deschamps although now these look nothing more than constructive following the faith given to the Arsenal defender.
Saliba was impressive at the back as Les Blues kept a clean sheet in their 1-0 win over Austria. Ibrahima Konate was left on the bench and the former Saint Etienne youngster started alongside Dayot Upamecano.
The issue is not thought to be serious according to L’Equipe with Saliba still expected to maintain fitness ahead of matchday two. It has however brought something of a painful memory back for Arsenal supporters when at the end of the 2022/23 season a back injury cost the Frenchman the rest of his season.
It was particularly painful considering the Gunners were involved in the title race and the lack of depth saw both Rob Holding and Jakub Kiwior cover but ultimately the side faltered and handed a sizeable lead back to Manchester City who would go on to win the league. They repeated the feat again in 2023/24 but Arsenal pushed them to within just two points on the final day.
Saliba played every single minute of the league campaign, a feat managed only recently by Lee Dixon. Avoiding any injury scares was a massive boost to Arsenal but perhaps gave a false sense of security should any issues emerge in the future.
Arsenal are being linked with Crystal Palace and England international Marc Guehi in what is proving to be an unpredictable transfer window for the Gunners. However, a defender is certainly a possibility and with depth looking a priority across the board, hints of a Saliba injury will only raise expectations on a move for a player in the defensive line.
Jurrien Timber will be a much bigger part of the squad for the forthcoming season after suffering frustrating injuries throughout the previous campaign. This could see Ben White become an additional central consideration for Mikel Arteta – the Dutch international did replace White at right-back on the final-day win over Everton.
Many see the raising of the ceiling the way to overhaul Man City. However, it seems that an improvement of the floor and depth in the squad would allow better competitiveness across competitions and coverage of injuries too which Saliba’s latest scare has again brought into the fold.
