Mikel Arteta gives worrying William Saliba update as doubts grow over Arsenal defender’s season

Mikel Arteta says he is unsure whether William Saliba will play any further part in Arsenal’s title pursuit.

Arsenal have drawn last two games without Saliba
Rob Holding has been starting in his place
The Gunners travel to title rivals Manchester City next week

WHAT HAPPENED? The Gunners defender has not featured since being forced off against Sporting CP due to a back injury, missing the last four Premier League games.

He will not be involved against Southampton on Friday night and Arteta was unable to confirm when asked whether he would be able to feature in any of Arsenal’s remaining seven games of the season.

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WHAT THEY SAID: “I don’t know,” said the Arsenal boss. “Probably next week we will have more certainty. There is some evolution, he’s doing more activity, but he’s not there yet to start to throw him on the pitch at the level demanded to compete in this league.

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“We still need to wait a little bit more. He’s not progressing as quick as we hoped. It’s a bit delicate. We want to be certain when we push him that he’s ready to absorb the risk that we would take and at the moment that’s not possible.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Arteta was also asked about the fitness of Oleksandr Zinchenko after the left-back missed Sunday’s 2-2 draw at West Ham. He added: “We will see that one as well. It’s not certain. It’s a muscular injury and he needs some time to heal.”