Mikel Arteta has already held talks with Arsenal loan defender William Saliba about the player’s role in the team next season, according to reports.

The Telegraph claim Mikel Arteta held talks with William Saliba about his role at the club next season. The player is currently on loan in France with Saint-Etienne, but he spent a couple of days in North London recently for testing ahead of a return from injury.

The 18-year-old has had to deal with a couple of injury setbacks this campaign. He’s back playing regularly again at the moment though, starting each of Saint-Etienne’s last six games.

Saliba claims he still isn’t quite at 100% fitness, though he insists he is “300%” focusing on his current club, as opposed to thinking about his future with Arsenal. Hopefully, that’s because he already addressed any concerns in his conversation with Arteta.

We teamed up with Saint-Etienne journalist Chloe Gallot of Ultimo Diez this season to bring you individual match reports on Saliba’s performances throughout the campaign. You can find them all under his player tag, and the latest one is here.

If you don’t have time to read them all, the general consensus is that he’s doing well. For an 18-year-old in an underperforming side, he’s still catching the eye.

Saint-Etienne are really having trouble as a team, flirting with relegation as things stand. They do at least have a cup semi-final to look forward to next month. On an individual level though, Saliba is impressing.