William Saliba was always determined to come back and succeed at Arsenal this season, according to his manager Mikel Arteta.

After such a strong season in France with Marseille last year, it was inevitable there would be some speculation around William Saliba’s future with Arsenal.

Despite signing him a few years earlier, the Gunners were yet to use the defender in a competitive fixture, a fact the French media loved to play up and suggest he would soon be back in Marseille.

Back in May, RMC Sport were among the outlets to claim Saliba had told Marseille bosses he wanted to stay with the club, and Matteo Guendouzi vowed to try and convince the Arsenal man to leave North London.

Yet Mikel Arteta says he never had any doubts the centre-back wanted to play for Arsenal this year.

“He was very convinced & determined to come here,” Saliba said. “He had no other choice, he never suggested anything else.

“From the first conversation I had with him, you could see that he only had one intention – to play football matches for Arsenal.”

That certainly seems to have gone well so far, with Saliba breaking into the Arsenal starting lineup for the opening game of the season against Crystal Palace.

The French international won the Man of the Match award, helped the team to keep a clean sheet, and he subsequently featured in a number of Teams of the Week.

It surely can’t go that well every weekend, but it’s a strong start for the 21-year-old.

Success with Arsenal will surely do no harm to Saliba’s World Cup chances – which are bound to be at the forefront of his mind in the coming months.