Mikel Arteta Is Turning Potential Arsenal Headache into ‘Something Really Positive’

William Saliba has recovered from injury to give the Gunners an embarrassment of defensive riches.

Mikel Arteta is changing the center-back narrative. | Michal Cizek/AFP/Getty Images

Mikel Arteta views William Saliba, Gabriel and Ezri Konsa all being healthy at the same time as an opportunity, rather than a problem.

“How does Arteta solve his defensive dilemma?” was the question posed by BBC Sport analysis on Tuesday, following the news that Saliba has returned to training after recovering from a back injury aggravated during France’s 2026 World Cup semifinal against Spain in July.

Konsa, a starter for most of England’s run to a third-place finish at the tournament, was recruited in August in the knowledge that Saliba would be missing for several months. He has made an Arsenal starting berth his own and has performed consistently well.

Arteta spoke to reporters later on Tuesday, after Arsenal had arrived in Czechia for this week’s Champions League encounter with Slavia Prague. The suggestion appeared to be that Saliba is ready to go as soon as the manager decides to use him.

“He’s in, and he’s in like anybody else,” Arteta explained. “All the preparation has been done to measure all the loads and all the steps that he had to do to minimize that risk. Now he's in a really good place. He's built the capacity that we needed and now it's about giving him minutes.

“A center back normally has to be able to play 90 minutes and that’s why all the preparation that we’ve done to build him.” Saliba himself, Arteta said, is “very desperate” to get back and will have the “right amount of minutes very soon.”

Yet, for Saliba—not expected to relapse because of the specialist work that has gone into his recovery—to reclaim his place, one of Gabriel or Konsa has to make way.

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Conflicting Saliba, Gabriel, Konsa Availability Is a ‘Luxury’

Arsenal have three of the best center backs in the Premier League. | David Price/Arsenal FC/Getty Images (Saliba, Gabriel), James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images (Konsa)

Arteta suggests that having Saliba, Gabriel and Konsa to pick from at center back is a “luxury” that Arsenal have so far been denied this season. “I wouldn’t call it a problem,” he said. “We can talk about problems that are very different to that one.”

The Gunners boss has been outspoken for years on the physical demands on his players when there are four club competitions—plus internationals—during the season.

He hopes that having three leading center backs at his disposal will aid rotation.

“The moment that they are fit and available, we’re going to have the opportunity to give players [rest] or to load the players and to manage the congestion of the players in a much better way than we've actually done,” Arteta explained.

The other aspect to consider is that Konsa, even when Saliba partners Gabriel, might still command a spot in the Arsenal team at right back. It has been a problem position at times, with neither Jurriën Timber nor Ben White enjoying consistent injury-free seasons in recent years.

“Ezri, he can play as a fullback,” Arteta offered. “I think his main position is as a center back. He can play right or left, and William is the same with the national team or here at Arsenal, and that’s going to be something really positive.”

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