"I was very surprised" - Mikel Arteta makes bold claims as he heaps praise on Arsenal star

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has heaped praise on star defender William Saliba as the Frenchman continues to impress at the heart of the Gunners' backline.

Saliba has been a key player for the north London giants this campaign as they look to be cruising towards the Premier League title.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has admitted that he has been somewhat surprised by how good Saliba has been this campaign.

The Gunners boss has claimed that the France international made it quite evident in his first two training sessions that he is a special player. Arteta said, as quoted by Hayters TV:

“I am, I was very surprised with the goal he scored that day especially (against Bournemouth). He had an immediate impact (in pre-season). The first two training sessions that we looked at him, we went: ‘There’s huge potential here’."

Mikel Arteta has hailed Saliba for settling in well seamlessly at the club despite plenty of question marks over his abilities and potential. He added:

“The way he settled in, the way he started to get his role around the team, around his teammates, and the way he played in pre-season – he took every question mark that we could have with him out and has given us all the reasons to play him. I think he’s been exceptional since that day.”

William Saliba was signed by Arsenal back in the summer of 2019 but the Frenchman only made his debut for the Gunners this campaign.

He was loaned out to AS Saint-Etienne as part of the clause of his transfer from the French club.

Despite doing really well in Ligue 1, Saliba failed to make a single appearance for the Gunners in the first half of the 2020-21 campaign.

He spent the second half of the 2020-=21 season on loan at Nice while spending the next season on loan at Olympique de Marseille.

Saliba has started every Premier League game for Arsenal this season and has been one of the best defenders in the Premier League.

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta claims star will not walk back into team after injury layoff

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has claimed that Gabriel Jesus will have to earn his place back in the starting XI.

The Brazil international underwent surgery after suffering a knee injury during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar in November.

The former Manchester City star is expected to be out of action until early March and Arteta has claimed that Jesus needs to earn his place back. The Arsenal boss (via Football London):

"Probably that wouldn’t be fair on him because when he was in the team he was phenomenal. But when he’s back, like everybody else, he’ll need to earn his place in the team. He’s not far now. I don’t want to give a timeline, but he’s doing certain things with the team and certain things outside the team. He’s not very close, but he’s not very far (either). The doctors are feeling confident with how he’s evolving."

Jesus has scored five goals and provided seven assists in 20 games across competitions this season following his £45 million move from Manchester City in the summer.