Despite his insistence that he would have been satisfied either way, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will undoubtedly have been left delighted by the fact center back William Saliba was not called up to Zinédine Zidane’s latest France roster.

Saliba has not played since the World Cup, where a back injury he had long been managing ultimately reached a point that required an extended spell on the sidelines. The star defender made it back to the bench for Arsenal’s 2–1 win over Slavia Prague in midweek but went unused.

Before Zidane announced his latest group, Arteta confirmed he had been in “very close contact” with French officials over Saliba, insisting they had “all the information” ahead of a final decision.

Asked whether he would rather Saliba did not join up with France, Arteta stressed: “I think it’s something between them more, because William needs minutes as well, I know how much he loves to be around the national team. [Zidane]’s a new manager, a really exciting one as well, so whatever he’s decided is fine for us.”

While Saliba may be somewhat disappointed to be away from the French group, there is no doubt that Arteta will have been ecstatic to see the defender’s name left off of November’s roster.

Arsenal Have the Chance to Ease Saliba Back Into Action

Arsenal spent a good part of last season helping Saliba manage his back injury and will be incredibly relieved that he is feeling positive enough to have even hoped to feature for France this month.

Saliba may want to dive straight back in, but that will be the last thing on Arteta’s mind. After so long on the sidelines, the Frenchman could easily aggravate his injury or suffer another minor issue relating to a lack of match fitness, so his return needs to be managed as carefully as his injury was last year.

He may well see some minutes on Saturday against Hull City, but Saliba will get another two weeks of rest beyond that game as Arteta and the Arsenal staff can focus on building up the Frenchman’s condition without any pressure.

The presence of Ezri Konsa in the Arsenal squad means Arteta can take his time with Saliba. The Englishman has slotted in seamlessly alongside Gabriel in the Gunners’ back line and has helped them to concede a league-low five goals across their opening nine games.

Konsa has been so impressive, in fact, that Arteta may well struggle to make a change. Few would argue against Saliba’s return but there can be no denying that Konsa does not deserve to lose his spot, giving Arteta the most welcome of headaches over the international break.