William Saliba has been one of the best defenders in England in this campaign, and his fine form is one reason Arsenal has topped the Premier League standings.
It was almost a given that he would be selected by France for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and he made the cut.
The defender would have been confident that he would play for his country at the competition, but that has not been the case.
France has chosen the pairing of Raphael Varane and Dayot Upamecano as their first choice, with Saliba expected to come in if either cannot play.
However, with Upamecano sick and unable to make the team for their semi-final match against Morocco, France fielded Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate in place of the Bayern Munich man.
Konate only played a handful of games before the World Cup and is not a regular at Liverpool. The Sun reports this did not go down well with Arsenal fans who used social media to complain about Saliba being overlooked.
Just Arsenal Opinion
Saliba has been one of the best defenders in Europe and we are blessed to have him in our squad, but we must understand that international football is different.
The national team managers face tougher choices and France is blessed with many centre-backs who are simply too good to be benched.
Saliba’s time will come if he stays focused and patient. Do you think he should have played ahead of Konate?
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