William Saliba’s fitness coach thinks the defender needs to be playing regularly and he’ll want to do so at Arsenal next season.

William Saliba is currently away from Arsenal on loan in Marseille, and he’s settled in quickly with the Ligue 1 club.

The 20-year-old has already made eight appearances this season, even discounting the OGC Nice game that was cancelled. That’s as many games as Arsenal had played in total before today.

In general, the defender has also earned praise for his displays. Up until a couple of disappointing results this week, Marseille were in good form and looked to be reaping the rewards of Saliba’s loan.

Perhaps understandably, that has some Arsenal fans asking why the defender isn’t developing his game in North London, rather than France.

Nicolas St-Maurice has worked as a fitness coach for Saliba in the past, and he says he understands the concerns. But he expects Saliba to be back at Arsenal next year fighting for a spot.

“William is humble,” St-Maurice said. “Arsenal fans are annoyed right now because he’s not at the club and he’s doing really well in Marseille but I think last season he missed some games on top of COVID. Saliba needs to play more and he will come good.

“He does not want to come to Arsenal and sit on the bench – that’s not his mentality. He wants to be playing for Arsenal. I think next season he will make a solid case for himself.”

Marseille manager Jorge Sampaoli was recently raving about their new acquisition.

“He’s a top player in his position,” Sampaoli said. “We were lucky to get him on loan, it wasn’t simple. He’s great at marking, but good at bringing the ball out too. He’s a future great of French football, he’s very good at starting plays.

“He’s adapted to a three at the back well, and his performances are linked to the team’s, which likes to play from the back.”