William Saliba will get minutes for Arsenal’s Under-21 side on Sunday after missing out on the matchday squad against Hull City.
Saliba is yet to play a minute of competitive football this season after suffering a back injury at the World Cup.
But the Frenchman has now returned to first-team training and was named on the bench for the Champions League clash against Slavia Prague on Wednesday.
Despite that, Saliba was not named in the matchday squad for Saturday’s Premier League clash with Hull at the Emirates.
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Ezri Konsa and Gabriel Magalhaes will continue their impressive partnership at the centre of defence, with Mikel Arteta confirming that Saliba will instead feature for the U21s against Aston Villa on Sunday.
‘He needs some minutes,’ the Gunners boss said pre-match.
‘Obviously, the Champions League allows you to bring more players into the bench, but we believe that it’s the best thing to do, to play some minutes on the weekend with the Under-21s and then be fully fit for the international break.’
Speaking on Friday, Arteta confirmed that Saliba was available to be called up by France for their two Nations League matches over the international break.
‘They have all the information,’ he said.
‘Now it’s about them, about Zinedine in this case to make the call. We will accept whatever it is. I think it’s something between them.
‘Willy needs minutes as well. I know how much he loves to be in the national team.
‘It’s a new manager, a really exciting one as well, so whatever he has decided is fine for us.’
Zinedine Zidane, however, opted against calling up the Arsenal star into his second squad as France manager, meaning Saliba will stay in north London over the international break.
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