Arsenal have just made a decision about one of their players, and Thierry Henry will not like it.
The Gunners missed out on silverware, but they pushed Manchester City until the final day of the 2023/24 Premier League season. Mikel Arteta has a lot of positives to take forward.
Now, quite a few Arsenal players have joined their national teams for the Euros and the Copa America, but those aren’t the only international tournaments scheduled to take place this summer.
The Olympics will begin in July, but one Arsenal player will not be allowed to take part.
Arsenal make William Saliba decision that could annoy Thierry Henry
William Saliba is one of Arsenal’s most important players.
The Frenchman joined the club back in 2019 but it was only on the opening day of the 2022/23 season that he got to make his competitive debut.
Since then, he has been irreplaceable for Arsenal. Saliba is one of the best defenders in the world, and the fact that he’s still only 22 means he’ll only get better in the coming years.
The defender, unsurprisingly, has been called up to the France squad for the upcoming European championships in Germany. The final of the competition is scheduled to take place on the 14th of July.
Then, on the 26th, the Olympics will begin, and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry will lead his France side out with the hope of winning Gold in Paris.
The legendary Frenchman would’ve likely been interested in calling up Saliba, but Le Parisien have revealed that Arsenal have ‘blocked’ the possibility of that happening.
Clubs are within their rights to allow or disallow their players from participating in the Olympics, and it looks like Arteta has no interest in taking the risk of sending his star defender to another international tournament right after the Euros.
That will likely upset Henry, who along with Saliba is also expected to be without Kylian Mbappe.
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Mikel Arteta previously allowed another Arsenal star to take part in the Olympics
France will be among the strongest teams at the Olympics this summer even without Saliba, but Henry would’ve surely loved to have him.
However, Arsenal are right to block that as Saliba will be key for them in the 2024/25 season, and Arteta needs him to be fresh.
What could annoy Saliba, though, is that the Arsenal boss allowed one of his teammates to take part in the previous Olympics in Tokyo – Gabriel Martinelli.
The Brazilian helped his country win Gold then, and Arteta was really proud of that.
As things stand, Saliba will not have that opportunity this summer, but the Arsenal boss is right to prioritise and protect his own club’s interests.