William Saliba has finally returned to Arsenal after an impressive loan spell at Olympique Marseille.
The Gunners signed the defender in 2019, but he never played for the club until this summer.
He spent almost all of that time on loan at French clubs, but he has returned to the Emirates now, and he did very well for Arsenal in preseason.
The Gunners have three solid centre backs, including Gabriel Magalhaes and Ben White, but a report claims Saliba is almost certain to start their match against Crystal Palace this Friday.
The Gunners will open their Premier League season with that fixture, and Football London reports that Saliba may have played his way into the starting XI for that fixture.
Just Arsenal Opinion
Saliba is one of the finest young defenders in Europe, and we are lucky to have him on our books.
The defender has a point to prove, but we must show that we trust him and appreciate his development this season.
If we don’t give him enough playing chances, he might not sign a contract extension at the club.
That means we could lose such a prodigious talent for a cheap fee. This is an important campaign for his Arsenal future, and we must ensure we show him that we need him here.
The defender has NOT got a point to prove. He has already proved his point.
I think we all knew he will start against Palace and hardly need a second rate “Football London” to predict it. There is no point to prove, he was quite rightly sent on loans to get where he is now and the decision to do that has been vindicated.
He must start this Friday game.he is good and ready
Saliba must start against palece.he is ready to play
Nonsense. Right now he’s the best defender we have. That’s statement is very insulting to a player who has already proved himself.
The writer is wright to say that Saliba still has a point to prove because he had only play in preseason friendly matches which are not competitive. However, if he play continuous six to seven matches in the premier league with solid performance, then the writer is wrong that he has no point to prove.
In a physical game like that of palace,i expect him to be up to task to take on their big forwards along side gabriel.white’s calmness might be exploited at RB so i think tomiyasu is best suited for that position against a team like palace.
A lot of focus in the comments on the “having a point to prove” aspect of the post.
People seem to think it means he was unhappy at being sent on loan but that wouldn’t be sensible would it? Saliba couldn’t prove that he would have played well last season by playing well this season, that’s just illogical.
I read that comment as simply meaning that he wants to prove that he has developed and can hold his own in the intensity of the PL – since he’s never played in it, he does still have to prove that.
It IS legimate opinion to say the SALIBA does HAVE A POINT TO PROVE, AS HE HAS NOT YET PLAYED IN OUR PREM .
NOW I personally do not agree with that opinion, but it IS a legitimate view, whether or not – and it is NOT -I share it.
The guy is a baller
Hmmmm, let’s see what will happen in palace game on Friday
Obviously, you start him. Particularly with Tomiyasu, not ready, this is a no-brainer from a personnel standpoint but it also happens to be a great show of faith in a player we still need to convince that he should want and expect to be a big part of this great club’s future.