"He had a year last year where Arsenal loaned him to St Etienne and that was a transition year for him," Mikel Arteta said as quoted by Arsenal's website when asked about William Saliba's absence at Liverpool.
"For many reasons, that wasn't the transition year that he needed because he had a lot of injuries, some personal issues and also with COVID and the French league getting cancelled, he didn't have that year.
"He needs that year of transition and we are trying to make the right decisions for him to give him the best transitional year for him to have the player we want in our future."
The Gunners spent £27m on the Frenchman back in summer 2019. He was sent back on loan to Saint Etienne, which was a part of the agreement between the two clubs.
So far, Saliba has only played in a friendly match against MK Dons during pre-season.
