A year and a half into his time with Arsenal and William Saliba is still yet to make his first team debut for the club.
After being signed in 2019, the French centre back arrived in the summer of 2020 following a loan spell with St. Etienne to much fanfare and was expected to kick on and make a push for Mikel Arteta's first team.
Instead he was restricted solely to appearances for Steve Bould's under-23s side and is now on the second loan spell of his Gunners' career with Nice where after a turbulent start he is reportedly starting to excel.
After guiding the French side to their first win since his arrival over the weekend Saliba was lauded over by the French press.
"He guides and instructs the defence, gives the impression he’s been there a long time," said L'Equipe.
"He’s just arrived but has already shown he’s the boss of the defence."
Saliba's displays - when you consider that they are coming after a nine month absence from first team football following the suspension of Ligue 1 in March last season, and his exile from the Arsenal first team since he arrived in the summer - make the decision to play Shkodran Mustafi over him this season all the more baffling.
Early on this season, the German international had signalled his intention to eventually end his time at the Emirates by rejecting a contract extension beyond the end of next summer.
Yet when Europa League matches came along and centre half rotation was required, it was the man soon to be part of Arsenal's past who played. The player signed to be the Gunners' future, on the other hand, could not even make the bench.
Attracted to north London by the glamour of regular continental football Saliba was instead forced to endure the humdrum of Papa John's Trophy matches against AFC Wimbledon and Crawley Town.
Of course it wasn't quite as simple as that. The 19-year-old had to deal with personal tragedy upon his arrival in the UK and Mikel Arteta voiced concerns about the lack of time he had had to acclimatise himself to the pace of the English game.
But with Mustafi playing and Saliba not reports began to emerge that the Frenchman's time at the Emirates would be over quite literally before it had even begun.
Now though it appears that there has been a change of tune from management at Arsenal.
football.london understands that the Gunners are working to terminate Shkodran Mustafi's contract ahead of schedule in a manner similar to that of Sokratis and Mesut Ozil.
The German was not even involved in the squad for the FA Cup fourth round match against Southampton and it seems as though he could be leaving very soon.
The deal makes sense for Arsenal in the short-term due to the surplus of centre backs currently on the books at the Emirates.
Gabriel, Rob Holding, Pablo Mari, David Luiz and Calum Chambers are arguably all ahead of the 28-year-old in the pecking order, and with FA Cup football no longer on the fixturelist for the Gunners, Mustafi's game time is likely to be very limited.
It also fits in with what Mikel Arteta has stated his long-term ambitions for his central defensive options are set to be.
"I just want a really strong core of defenders, central defenders, four to five," he said earlier this month.
"And then generate that competition and also that cohesion which is really necessary.
"A back four in my opinion needs that cohesion and the regularity of minutes to understand each other, to understand that communication, those relationships and we haven't managed to do that in that period."
Three of those spots have been taken. Rob Holding has been signed a contract extension this month, while Pablo Mari and Gabriel have only been brought in recently.
With the departure of Mustafi, it seems as though the fourth is Saliba's for the taking.
Arteta has been keen to dispel reports that he doesn't see a future for the French centre back whose rise to prominence has been compared to that of Raphael Varane.
"He will come back for pre-season and he will be with us," said the Spaniard when asked if the 19-year-old's loan spell at Nice could eventually become permanent.
"I know that sometimes it’s difficult to explain or understand after the money that the club has spent trying to bring him in, to send him on loan.
"But a lot of things have happened to him he’s a long-term player for us and we need to protect him as well. And giving him three or four games is not enough.
"Hopefully he will come back after playing a number of games and his performance raising and his development progressing in the right way. That’s why we made that decision.
"For him he needs much more than that, because what happened in the last 18 months, he’s been through some personal problems as well that we have to try to help him and stay as close as possible to him.
"And now he needs to play, play and play and enjoy his profession as well. And in order to do that I think we found the right club with him.
"He’s very happy to got there now. Hopefully he can enjoy his football and be ready for us for next season."
There was a slight suspicion that with Arteta's actions over the course of this season that that statement may be nothing more than words.
But with the Arsenal boss' latest action on Shkodran Mustafi, it is clear that he views William Saliba in his future plans.
