"He looked ready to me today" - Mikel Arteta praises Arsenal star after win over Chelsea

Arsenal drubbed Chelsea 4-0 in their pre-season clash earlier today, and Gunners manager Mikel Arteta had good reason to be impressed. It was a perfect set of two halves for his men, who managed to score twice in each half.

While the team flourished in both attack and defense, Arteta singled out praise for William Saliba. Speaking to the press after the game (via Arsenal), the tactician expressed his pleasure with Saliba's performance against Chelsea:

"I am really pleased to see the way he is playing, the way he has adapted to the team, the maturity that he's shown at 21-years-old, carry on doing it. We will keep developing him, he has a huge potential, he is already a top player and we have to make him even better."

When asked if the youngster was ready to take on a more consistent role in Arsenal's first-team, Arteta responded:

"He looked ready to me today."

Saliba made the move from the French league to the Premier League back in 2019 with a transfer from Saint-Etienne to the Emirates Stadium.

He has not made a single appearance for the Gunners, but has since continued to return to the Ligue 1 on loan. He notably enjoyed a brilliant campaign with Marseille last season, where he made 52 appearances. Saliba ended the season as Ligue 1's Player of the Season.

With his impressive performances, Saliba will be hoping he can push for a first-team slot and even make his first appearance for the Gunners this season.

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Arsenal demolish Chelsea with four goals: Match report

The Gunners' summer splurge looks to have already paid rich dividends following their emphatic 4-0 win over London rivals Chelsea. Mikel Arteta’s men looked fantastic in the match. They will now have their sights set on breaking into the top four next season.

The Gunners took early charge in the first half and Chelsea could barely keep up, allowing new signing Gabriel Jesus to open the scoring on 15 minutes. They looked too hot to handle with 'Artetaball' in full flow and doubled their lead after Martin Odegaard found the back of the net on the 32nd minute.

Both teams would make a raft of changes in the second half, but Chelsea did little to stop the Arsenal juggernaut. Bukayo Saka made it three without reply in the 66th minute, putting the victory firmly with the Gunners.

Albert Sambi Lokonga added a nice cherry to the proceedings with his stoppage time strike, sentencing Chelsea to a 4-0 defeat. The Gunners will be very pleased with their performance on the day and during their American Tour, after scoring nine goals in three games.

The Blues will go back to the drawingboard, however, and will hope to improve on their performance. With the season yet to start for a couple more weeks, there is still time for Thomas Tuchel to remedy their showing.