Written by Arsenal fans are all over the moon after the confirmation of William Saliba’s return,their Berlin Wall, to first team training. Mikel Arteta himself confirmed that, the French international player is ready for contention and even played some 45 minutes behind closed doors.
The return of the Premier League Champion however poses some selection headache to Mikel Arteta. The Manager signed Ezri Konsa to act as a cover up for William Saliba who got injured in the World Cup while representing France.
Ezri Konsa has been very good ever since he arrived at Arsenal from Aston Villa. The English international player has covered up so well for William Saliba and at some point, some Arsenal fans even forgot that William Saliba was still an Arsenal player.
He has partnered so well with Gabriel Magalhaes and they have managed to help Arsenal to leapfrog Manchester City in the top position in the Premier League. This will really make it very hard for Mikel Arteta to drop a player who is on form like Ezri Konsa and replace him with William Saliba who is just returning from injury.
On the other hand, William Saliba has been very vital for the club and he is one of the players who made sure that Arsenal won the Premier League after 22 years. He is therefore a player who cannot just be overlooked because he has been there and he knows what it takes to win games and to win trophies.
The biggest question now will be, how will Ezri Konsa feel if he is dropped for William Saliba yet he is on a very good form of late. This will boil down to the terms in his contract with the club. I’m very certain that when he was being signed, he was told that he is coming in as a backup for William Saliba.
The good thing however is that, Arsenal is still active in many competitions and games are also still very many, on the other hand, we can also not rule out on injuries. Mikel Arteta will certainly find a perfect way of balancing the two centre backs without any of them feeling bad.
Ezri Konsa is also a versatile player who can play in multiple positions. He can be deployed even at right back where Jurrien Timber and Ben White are always prone to injuries and he can perform excellently well in that position too if deployed.