Mikel Arteta believes the international break was the best time to let William Saliba’s toe injury settle, and he hopes it won’t be a problem all season.

William Saliba didn’t play for France over the international break despite initially receiving a call-up, as Arsenal decided to withdraw him from the squad due to a toe injury.

The injury was the same one that kept Saliba out against Brentford in September, so it’s a problem he’s been carrying for a few weeks now.

Speaking in his press conference on Friday, Mikel Arteta said he’s hoping the problem isn’t long-term, and that the rest over the international break will have helped it to settle.

“Hopefully not (it won’t plague him all season),” Arteta began. “But obviously he’s been carrying that for weeks now and we have to use that time as well to settle.

“We believe that it (the international break) was the best moment to do it.”

As for whether Saliba might be a doubt for the match against Chelsea on Saturday, Arteta remained tight-lipped, saying only: “Depending again [on] how he’s able to train today.”

Arteta doesn’t tend to give much away on team news ahead of matches, but you’d expect Saliba to be involved against Chelsea.

Reports have suggested the defender was carrying this same problem before the game against Manchester City, but he didn’t miss that one, performing excellently in a 1-0 win.

In Saliba’s absence, France confirmed their spot at Euro 2024, moving six points clear of third-placed Greece in the group with Greece only having one game left to play.

That will hopefully take the pressure off Saliba in November as well, giving the defender more of a chance to focus on being fully fit for Arsenal.