William Saliba says he has enjoyed a "season with a lot of learning" ahead of his expected return to Arsenal.
The Frenchman was brought in for close to £30m from Saint-Etienne in 2019 but has yet to play a single game for the Gunners.
Manager Mikel Arteta left Saliba out of his Premier Leauge and Europa League squads at the start of the season - despite many in France regarding him as one of their best up and coming youngsters.
It led to the 20-year-old signing for Nice on loan until the end of the season in January, where he has impressed.
Now with the summer transfer window coming up, Arteta was asked what his plans with the defender are going into the new season and gave a cryptic answer.
David Luiz is set to leave at the end of the campaign with his contract expiring and the Gunners coach was asked who would replace the Brazilian.
He said: "You will see in the summer, the possible replacement. William is our player for sure and that's the decision that we're going to be taking soon.
"We will make a decision based on the agreement of the role that each player is going to have in the squad."
It seems to have given Saliba a boost, who has sent his own message on Instagram as he prepared to return to the Premier League.
In a post containing pictures of himself playing for Nice, he captioned it: “It was a season with a lot of learning, I’m looking forward to the next season, see you all soon."
Saliba has been a shining light for Nice since arriving, even earning the club's Player of the Month award just weeks after joining.
And the centre-back has insisted that Arteta was not patient enough with him.
“He judged me on two-and-a-half matches. I would have liked for him to play me more," he told RMC Sport earlier this year.
"But he told me I wasn’t ready. I was waiting for him to give me a chance, but football is like that."
Despite Luiz's decision to leave at the end of the season, Arsenal have plenty of options at the club.
Pablo Mari and Rob Holding could see their chances improve while Gabriel Magalhaes is one of the first names on the teamsheet after joining from Lille last summer.
It means Saliba might not get the first-team slot that he dreams of without a battle on his hands.
