William Saliba has handed Arsenal an enormous boost by returning to full first-team training on Tuesday, more than three months after the back injury that wrecked his start to the season and left Mikel Arteta fearing he might not see his best defender again in 2026.
The 25-year-old France international was spotted training with the group in Arsenal's open session ahead of Wednesday's Champions League league-phase trip to Slavia Praha, as reported by Football London. Saliba has not played a minute for the Gunners this season after aggravating a long-standing back problem in the World Cup semi-final against Spain, when he was forced off after just half an hour.
A recovery that has beaten every deadline
Arsenal and Saliba opted against surgery in favour of a conservative rehabilitation programme, and for a while the outlook was bleak, with genuine fears inside the club that the centre-back would not feature again this calendar year. He returned to individual work on the grass in early October, and Arteta struck a cautiously optimistic note in the middle of last month. "I think next week we have another MRI with him to see how the healing process is going," the Arsenal manager said. "But every sign so far has been very, very positive. It will be good to have him."
That optimism has been vindicated. According to the reporting rounded up by Sports Mole, Saliba has "absolutely smashed" his recovery milestones, and the defender who made 50 appearances and played 4,254 minutes for Arsenal last season is now back working with the full squad. Whether he travels to Prague is the next question: some reports have him pushing for a place in the travelling squad, while others suggest Wednesday will come too soon and that a place on the bench against Hull City this weekend, or a fuller return at Newcastle on 21 November after the international break, is the more realistic target. Arsenal's word, throughout, has been caution — nobody at London Colney will rush a back injury of this nature.
So what does Saliba's return change?
The fascinating part is that Arsenal have coped so well without him that his return is now a selection dilemma rather than a rescue mission. Ezri Konsa, the £55m summer signing, has been one of the signings of the season: five clean sheets in his eight league appearances and a defensive masterclass in Sunday's win at Anfield, where Arsenal's record defence kept Liverpool from registering a shot on target. His partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes has blossomed, as our earlier look at the Konsa question explored when the debate was whether anyone could break up that pairing.
Arteta is, in truth, spoiled. Beyond Konsa, Saliba and Gabriel, he can call on Cristhian Mosquera, Ben White, Piero Hincapie and Riccardo Calafiori at centre-half. And Saliba is not the only good news: after months of juggling fitness problems, Bukayo Saka — still recovering from a quadriceps issue expected to keep him out for more than a month — is now the only senior player sidelined. Eberechi Eze has made himself available again, Christos Tzolis recovered to star against Liverpool, and even 16-year-old Max Dowman trained on Tuesday; his three-match ban is domestic only, so he is eligible in Prague and could become the club's youngest-ever Champions League starter. Arteta will update the picture at his press conference in Prague later today.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Saliba's return should be treated as a luxury, not a lifeline — and that is precisely why it matters. Arsenal built the meanest defence in the league without their best defender; getting him back, eased in gently behind Konsa and Gabriel rather than thrown straight back into twice-a-week football, gives Arteta the one thing title races are usually decided by in the winter months: a world-class option he does not have to flog. The smart move is patience now for a fully fit Saliba when the season is really decided. Do you agree — should Arteta hold Saliba back until after the international break, or does he go straight into the squad for Prague?
