Arsenal receive huge William Saliba injury boost as defender returns to training

William Saliba has returned to training in a major boost to Arsenal’s pre-season plans.

The French defender missed the final couple of months of the 2022/23 campaign after suffering a back injury in a Europa League clash with Sporting CP and his absence played a major role in Arsenal missing out on the Premier League title to Manchester City.

Arsenal were unable to put an exact timeframe on Saliba’s return, raising fears that the centre-back could struggle to be fit for the start of the coming campaign.

But the 21-year-old, who will sign a new four-year contract with the Gunners imminently, has now returned and is expected to travel to Germany next week for Arsenal’s pre-season training camp.

In a further boost to the Gunners, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Martinelli, who all also missed the end of last season due to injury, are also back training with Mikel Arteta’s squad.