Arsenal have not been shy in regards to spending significant amounts of money to bring new players to the north London club over recent years.
One player that the club splashed out a decent amount of money on some years ago that has now started to prove why the Gunners were right to do so is William Saliba.
Originally signed from Saint-Etienne for a reported fee of £27m back in the 2019 summer transfer window, the defender completed three loan deals in France before eventually becoming a regular figure in Mikel Arteta’s squad this season.
In fact, the Frenchman is one of the two outfield players to play every single minute of league action for the Gunners so far this season, which shows just how highly rated he is by Arteta.
Bearing in mind how the 21-year-old made more clearances (91), interceptions (80) and tackles in the defensive third of the pitch (47) than any other player at Marseille during his time on loan there last season, it’s easy to see why Arteta has put such faith in him in this campaign.
In his six league appearances for Arsenal this season, the centre-back already has more interceptions (15) than any of his teammates as well as the second-highest number of clearances (19), which highlights just how easy it has been for the youngster to bring the defensive form he had on show in France last season to north London.
Hailed as a “confident” defender by former Arsenal full-back, Bacary Sagna, the colossus has also been described as being “above the rest” during the early days of his career by his former U12 and U13 coach, Fabio Frasconi.
Taking all of this into account, while we’re still in the early days of the season, the promise and defensive quality that Saliba has shown since the start of the campaign suggests to us that not only was it a good investment for Arsenal to sign him when they did, but also to keep putting him out on loan so he’d be ready to slot into Arteta’s side, which he has done effortlessly.
