Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta welcomed William Saliba early for Saturday’s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, but captain Martin Odegaard was sidelined due to illness.
The Spanish trainer has developed a reputation for providing unreliable fitness updates. Arsenal full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko even revealed the mind games Arteta is willing to play to confuse opponents.
“I saw him telling injured players to come on the team bus and go to the locker room with their toiletry bag to distract the other manager,” Zinchenko wrote in his autobiography.
There was no misdirection regarding Saliba’s presence at Molineux this weekend. The French central defender has been suffering from a muscle injury since the victorious North London derby in mid-January. Arteta confirmed Saliba would feature against Manchester City next weekend but warned: “Tomorrow we’ll see.” The 23-year-old was supported in defense by left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly, who also survived a knock.
“Very good to have [Saliba and Lewis-Skelly] “Back, they missed the last game and are happy to help us,” explained the Arsenal coach Sky Sports before the game.
Saliba unexpectedly won the race against time and started the trip to Wolverhampton alongside Gabriel. The Brazilian was handed the captain’s armband on Saturday in the absence of his regular captain Odegaard.
“Martin [Odegaard] “Was sick this morning, we had to send him back, he was nowhere near fit to play,” revealed Arteta. “Mike [Merino] also had a stroke so he couldn’t come to training yesterday.”
Odegaard played the full 90 minutes of the Gunners’ comfortable 3-0 Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday night, even scoring the final goal of the game in second-half stoppage time. The standout attacking midfielder was replaced in the eleven by teenage sensation Ethan Nwaneri.
“He is a player who has given us a lot in the last few weeks,” said Arteta about the 17-year-old. “We trust him.”