Arsenal defender William Saliba has given Mikel Arteta plenty to think about over the summer having been withdrawn from France’s Olympics squad.
The 20-year-old was originally announced in Les Bleus’ 18-man squad for the Games that was set to take place in Tokyo throughout the summer.
Depending on his nation’s participation, Saliba could well have been out of contention for Arsenal between July 21 and August 7.
With the Gunners’ first-team set to return to pre-season training in just five days’ time, this would have ruled the Frenchman out of the majority of pre-season.
Meanwhile, he would also have been a huge doubt for competitive action with the 2021/22 Premier League season scheduled to get underway on August 13 - just six days after the conclusion of the tournament.
Despite that, Saliba now has a huge opportunity to impress Arteta with the decision to withdraw from the squad.
The reason for his omission is yet to be revealed but unless it's an injury, this hands Arteta and Saliba a huge opportunity throughout pre-season.
Fellow Arsenal defender Gabriel is still set to travel to Tokyo with Brazil, leaving space for a defender in the Gunners’ squad.
Having previously been some way from first-team action and sent out on-loan to OGC Nice last season, Saliba could certainly be the man to step into the vacancy and rack up some vital minutes ahead of the new Premier League campaign.
After joining from Saint-Etienne in the summer of 2020 for a reported fee of £28million, he is yet to make his first-team debut for Arsenal.
A period back in his homeland saw Saliba impress, with many Gunners’ fans calling for him to be included in Arteta's first-team.
Meanwhile, the Spaniard has admitted that discussions are set to take place over Saliba’s place within the squad.
"You will see in the summer, the possible replacement," said Arteta ahead of the 2020/21 campaign’s conclusion.
"William is our player for sure and that's the decision we're going to be taking soon. When we finish the season we will sit down and discuss the roles of every member in our squad and how they can fulfil that role.
"He's our player so he'll be back here for sure. After that, we will make a decision based on an agreement of the role each player is going to have in our squad."
