Arsenal's reluctance to use William Saliba since his £30million Emirates switch has been questioned by former Gunners academy star Stephy Mavididi - now taking France by storm at Montpellier.
Mavididi spent eight years in north London as an Arsenal academy prospect before eventually calling time on his stay with the club to join Juventus, after being scouted by the brother of Giorgio Chiellini.
The striker has since moved on to Ligue 1 where he has come up against Saliba, currently on loan with Marseille.
And Mavididi has nothing but positive things to say about the 20-year-old central defender who he says simply: "How is this guy not playing at Arsenal?"
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Speaking in an interview with LiveScore, the 23-year-old forward, who attracted Premier League interest from Newcastle in January, discussed Saliba and said: “That guy's a player. He's hands down one of the best defenders in the league, hands down.
"I think he'll walk back Into the Arsenal team next season. When I played against him last year I thought 'how is this guy not playing at Arsenal?'
"He's strong, good on the ball, he reads the game well.
"Sometimes you walk off the pitch and think 'fair play man, respect' - the defender has kept up with you, out tussled you, out quitted you, you have to say fair play, this guy's a good player."
Mavididi went on to claim that despite Saliba's relative inexperience and age, he is one of the best opponents he has ever battled with.
"He's one of the best centre-backs I've faced," he added. "Everyone can talk about Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Jérôme Boateng, but he's up there.
"He's the one that surprised me the most. I'm an Arsenal fan too and playing against Saliba I thought, we've got a very decent defender here."
Saliba was brought to the Gunners by Arteta's predecessor Unai Emery in the summer of 2019, but was immediately sent back on loan to former side Saint Etienne.
The following season Saliba was forced to spend the first half of the campaign without any senior football after Arsenal failed to find him another club to join on loan.
The January transfer window of 2021 saw the young defender link up with OGC Nice, before again returning to Arsenal for pre-season training last summer.
Prior to the start of this term Saliba joined Marseille alongside fellow Arsenal loanee Matteo Guendouzi, where both have massively impressed at the Stade Velodrome.
Though Guendouzi is expected to have played his last game in an Arsenal shirt due to a breakdown in his relationship with Arteta, there are still hopes Saliba will enjoy a stellar career at the Emirates.
