Bakary Sagna has backed William Saliba to become a Premier League star when he eventually joins Arsenal in the summer.
Saliba signed for Arsenal last summer in a deal worth more than £25 million, however, the Frenchman teenager was allowed to remain at Saint Etienne for the season and continue his development.
He has continued to impress in the French Ligue 1 and despite missing some months through injuries, he has played 15 times for his loan team and has impressed in most of the games.
Former Gunner Mikael Silvestre previously claimed that the teenager would walk into the Arsenal starting XI when he eventually joins up with the rest of the team and Sagna appears to think even more highly of the defender.
The former Arsenal full-back who spent seven years at the Emirates claimed that Saliba has the potential to become a Premier League great.
“First he will need to adapt to English football,” Sagna told Goal. “He is a big prospect for the future but Arsenal need him to perform as soon as he starts.
“He is aware of that probably, but he has a lot of qualities and he will learn fast. Hopefully he will achieve good things and become one of the best centre-backs in the league.
“He is very confident in defending, he is not afraid to defend one against one and most of the time he wins the duels, which is the best quality as a defender.
“You need some security, you need some presence and he has that.”
The Arsenal fans are certainly looking forward to seeing Saliba in an Arsenal shirt and hopefully, he will become the solution to the club’s long-standing problems at the back.
