William Saliba is on the verge of returning for Arsenal handing Mikel Arteta a brilliant yet vital line-up call to make

Mikel Arteta is close to having all three of William Saliba, Ezri Konsa and Gabriel Magalhaes all available at the same time. Arsenal welcomed the French defender back to full team training, and he was spotted in the open session ahead of the club’s clash with Slavia Praha in the UEFA Champions League.

Saliba will still be eased back into the fold, and with the form of both Gabriel and Konsa, there is certainly no need to rush anything. The pair have helped keep five clean sheets so far this season, and there is yet further depth with Cristhian Mosquera should Arteta wish to call upon it.

Arteta was asked last month whether the partnership between Gabriel and Konsa was making Saliba try to push his rehab to get back. However, he was adamant that as a collective, they are a real asset.

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"William [Saliba] is not fit, and we are desperate to have him back because we know what Willy offers,” Arteta said. “We are really lucky to have that, and I'm sure if Mosquera, when he plays, that he will be the same because they have something special.

“Those boys between them, the way we train them, the way they want to improve as well, and how they look after each other. And that's the beauty of our team."

So the question remains: what happens when Saliba returns? Many would argue that Saliba was one of the biggest reasons why the Gunners won the league last season and the defender was in the top 30 Ballon d’Or nominations (29) alongside Gabriel (21) and Declan Rice (15).

Firstly, it is highly unlikely that Gabriel will switch positions to accommodate either player, as the only left-footer. This therefore means a decision is made between Konsa and Saliba for the right centre-back role.

However, both Konsa and Saliba have played at left centre-half for club and country. With Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie seen as almost exclusively the left-back options despite also being able to play left centre-half, Gabriel has lacked depth in his role.

The return of Saliba solves this problem. The challenge for Arteta will be rotating efficiently between all three in the games to come but with the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup all competitions high on the agenda there will be plenty of scope and games to trial different combinations while maintaining consistent standards.