Here is the Arsenal morning digest for Thursday, November 12.
William Saliba finally breaks his silence with Instagram message after Mikel Arteta's decision
Mikel Arteta has faced plenty of questions over defender William Saliba this season.
Saliba, 19, signed for Arsenal in 2019 from Saint-Etienne but was immediately loaned back to the French side for the entirety of the 2019-2020 season.
Arsenal fans were excited to see Saliba return to the club this summer, and were hopeful he’d be part of the first-team this season.
That hasn’t happened, however, with Saliba not in the first-team picture after a return to Saint-Etienne on loan fell through at the last minute.
It was reported recently that Saliba was unhappy with his situation at Arsenal, while Arteta admitted last week that he was fed up.
The defender subsequently took to Instagram after playing 90 minutes for the Arsenal U21's in their Papa John's Trophy win against Gillingham on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, his post provided no clarity on his Arsenal situation, but was instead a birthday message to his former teammate Denis Bouanga.
Despite the lack of comment from Saliba he did not fail to catch the eye against Gillingham with his pass eventually leading to Catalin Cirjan converting.
Bukayo Saka names the one player who impressed him most in England training
Arsenal identified Jack Grealish as Aston Villa’s biggest threat ahead of their game on Sunday, according to Bukayo Saka.
Saka started the game against the Villains during which the Gunners were dismantled 3-0 by Dean Smith’s side.
At the heart of Villa’s good play was Grealish, with the midfielder driving his side forward and causing havoc alongside Ross Barkley and Ollie Watkins.
Saka is currently on international duty with England and discussed the loss to Villa with Gareth Southgate.
The 19-year-old’s England call-up also saw him link up with Grealish, with Saka revealing it was the Villa man who impressed him most during his first camp.
"When I came here before my first camp he was the player who probably impressed me most in training," Saka told reporters in a press conference.
"Before we played against Villa at the weekend we did analyse him and picked him out as one of their main threats and he showed it in the game.
"He was amazing from start to finish so it will be good to play with him and not against him this week."
George Graham gives his verdict on Mikel Arteta’s job at Arsenal
George Graham is extremely impressed with the job Mikel Arteta has done at Arsenal.
The former Arsenal boss has been impressed by Arteta’s work at the Emirates, but believes he must seek to offload Mesut Ozil.
The Spaniard recently masterminded a victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford, the first time the Gunners had won there in 14 years.
That hasn’t gone unnoticed by Graham, with the former Arsenal boss pleased with Arteta’s early progress.
“I’m very pleased with what he’s done recently,” Graham told talkSPORT. “He’s already won cups and he’s only been there two minutes. I like the way he’s trying to play out a bit more. I was very strong defensively and it worked for me. We won a lot of games by the odd goal.
“I like the way they’re playing under Arteta. He brought in a very strong midfield player [Thomas Partey] and a defender [Gabriel] from Brazil. ‘It looks to me that he’s spending their money – which is not a lot – very well.”
