Saliba has had an excellent season on loan in Ligue 1 and won the Young Player of the Year in France for his performances in the 2021/22 campaign.
The defender has expressed an interest in staying at Marseille beyond the end of his current loan stint and is not keen to return to Arsenal this summer.
However, Arteta stressed that the Frenchman has little option but to return to the Emirates as he wants the defender in his squad next season.
The Arsenal boss believes the defender would not have played as much as he did at Marseille if he stayed in north London last summer and it would not have been good for his development.
He indicated that he has no personal problems with Saliba and the decision to loan him out was only to give him a better chance to gain more experience.
The Spaniard told French radio station RMC: “He has to come back.
“He has the experience and the necessary qualities to be competitive with us.
“If he had stayed with us this year, with one Premier League match every week and Ben White and Gabriel, he wouldn’t have had half the playing time that he had at Marseille that’s for sure.
“For his development and what he can do next season that wouldn’t have been good.
“William wasn’t with us because he wouldn’t have had the playing time to gain experience.
“That’s it, nothing else.”
It remains to be seen whether Saliba succeeds in convincing Arteta and Arsenal and stays at Marseille next season.
