William Saliba says being back at Arsenal "feels good", with the defender now determined to "fight" for a place in Mikel Arteta's starting XI.
Saliba impressed on loan at Marseille last season and finally appears ready to make an impact at Emirates Stadium after a false start to his career with the Gunners.
He has already spoken to Arteta about his role in the squad amid Arsenal's pre-season tour of the United States, with his first appearance coming in a 2-0 win over Everton.
Saliba outlines targets after returning to Arsenal
"We talked a bit on Monday and we are going to talk more," the 21-year-old said before Saturday's victory.
“My plan is to fight and work with the team, win as much as possible and grow more. It feels good to be back and start pre-season. to continue training and participating in friendly matches.
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"It's important to be here with the fans, as well as with my teammates. I hope we will enjoy good training and good matches, this which is important before the start of the season."
Saliba added on how closely he followed Arsenal's progress while away at Marseille: "When I was on loan I watched every [Arsenal] game because when I was there some players weren't there.
"I watched the games to see how they were playing, so when I came back it would be easier to play with those I hadn't met before."
What has Arteta said about Saliba?
Arteta also spoke to reporters before the Everton game, and confirmed that Saliba is in his thoughts ahead of the new season.
The France international won the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award in 2021-22 while helping Marseille finish second in the table, and the Arsenal boss sees him as a "proper talent".
"He is in the plans. We cannot guarantee first-team football to anybody in this team – you can ask that question to anybody," said Arteta.
"What we guarantee is that the ones we really see and think are going to take us to the next level, they’re going to be playing a lot of minutes.
"He’s a proper talent and he’s shown in the last year what can do, but in football it’s about what you do the next day – what everybody did three months ago or a month ago, it doesn’t really matter. It’s about what you do tomorrow and he’s going to have the chance to play."