Arsenal released their official squad photo for the 2026/27 season earlier this week, and it didn’t go down well.

William Saliba was nowhere to be seen, with the club explaining on X that he had a doctor’s appointment at the same time as the shoot. Plenty of fans were furious, with many calling for the picture to be scrapped and taken again with Saliba in it.

Mikel Arteta confirms Arsenal will retake the squad photo

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s trip to Nottingham Forest, Mikel Arteta explained why the club went ahead without the defender.

“The problem was that we have tried to do that picture three times already, and we have to cancel it last minute for different reasons,” he said. “And we had some obligations, commercial obligations. We had people that came and fly over to do that. So we decided to do that picture at least.

“We will have another picture with the whole family. Hopefully we can get them all together at some point one day, and I will announce that as well.”

When asked whether Arsenal would redo the photo, Arteta confirmed they would. He also made it clear Saliba wasn’t to blame for missing it.

Saliba hasn’t played a minute this season after suffering a back injury following the World Cup, having played through pain for much of last season to help Arsenal win the title. He’s back training on the grass, and Arteta confirmed he’ll have another MRI scan next week. If his recovery continues as expected, he could be targeting a return in late November.