William Saliba is back in full training, and Mikel Arteta now has a problem that every other manager in Europe would happily take off his hands. The France centre-back has not played a minute this season. Arsenal have conceded five goals in nine league games and sit top of the table. Somebody who has done nothing wrong is about to lose their place.
The injury goes back to the World Cup. Saliba, 25, came off early in France's semi-final defeat to Spain and was sent to a specialist afterwards, having managed a back problem through the whole of last season. Surgery was ruled out. A long rehabilitation was not, and no return date was ever put on it. He has been doing individual work at the training ground for months and has now rejoined the group, with a Champions League tie against Slavia Prague and a crowded December in front of him.
The signing nobody could explain
When Arsenal spent £55m on Ezri Konsa in the summer, the obvious question was why. They already had seven senior defenders and one of the better centre-back partnerships in the game. The answer arrived quickly enough. Konsa joined hours before the opening match against Coventry, came off the bench against his old club Aston Villa for his debut, and has started seven of the nine league games since.
He has been one of Arsenal's best players. He scored the opening goal in the 2-0 win over Everton and was commanding again as Arsenal won at Anfield for the first time in 14 years on Sunday. Arteta has called the way he settled unbelievable, and there are people now arguing that Konsa and Gabriel Magalhaes are the best pairing in world football. That is the sort of claim that sounds daft in August and reasonable by November.
Where Saliba fits
The straightforward fix is to move Konsa to right-back and put Saliba back beside Gabriel. Konsa has played there before, made his England debut in the position, and started the World Cup quarter-final against Norway at right-back. He is quick, he is big, and Arteta likes physical players in wide defensive areas. An opposition winger running at Konsa is not an appealing afternoon.
The cost falls on Ben White and Jurrien Timber, who have been the first-choice right-backs and have given Arteta no reason to drop either. White has been available for all but one match this season. Both have had fitness trouble in the past, which is usually how these logjams resolve themselves, though relying on that is not a plan.
The squeeze is tighter still for Cristhian Mosquera. The young centre-back has recovered from a hamstring injury and has barely played, and Saliba's return pushes him further down a queue that was already long. Questions about his future are going to get louder before they get quieter.
A season that needs all of them
Arsenal played 63 games last season on the way to the title and the Champions League final, their first league title in 22 years, built on a defence that conceded 27 goals. Saliba was in the PFA team of the year for a fourth consecutive time. Arteta wants to defend the title and go further in Europe, which means the same volume of football again and a genuine need for every one of these defenders at some point between now and May.
Arsenal have said they will be careful with Saliba's return, and the sensible reading is that he builds up through the Hull game on Saturday and the international break rather than being thrown straight back in. The selection headache is real. It is also the kind that gets solved by injuries, suspensions and fixture congestion within about three weeks.
Context: William Saliba, 25, returned to Arsenal first-team training on 3 November 2026 after missing the whole season with a back injury sustained in France's World Cup semi-final loss to Spain. Arsenal lead the Premier League having conceded five goals in nine games. Ezri Konsa joined from Aston Villa for £55m in the summer and has started seven of those nine matches. Arsenal host Hull City on Saturday.
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