Bacary Sagna has been talking about William Saliba recently, and all I’m seeing is positive things ahead of the 19 year-old’s arrival at Arsenal.
Our club agreed a deal £27 Million deal to sign the Frenchman from St Etienne last summer, whilst agreeing for him to stay with the club for the current campaign.
Saliba has missed part of the season due to injury, but that doesn’t appear to have hampered his progress, and looks like he will be ready to hit the ground running in the first-team for us next term.
Bacary Sagna watched him recently, and while he accepts the youngster may need time to adapt to Premier League football, he believes that he has all the aspects needed to become a top defender for Arsenal.
“First he will need to adapt to English football,” the former Gunner stated.
“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.”
Sagna moved to praise the decision to stay with St Etienne for the current campaign, allowing him time to get to grips with the idea of stepping up the PL next year, while allowing him to work on his game in the mean time.
“For him, staying in the French League after signing for Arsenal was the best decision he could make because he knew he was going to change to a bigger club, but he knew he had to improve his performances,” he said.
“It was like a test, he had to step up his game during this season and the last game I watched of him was amazing. I analysed him as an Arsenal fan and he did very well.
“If he [Saliba] believes he can be as good as [Virgil] Van Dijk, he’s probably been watching his games and analysing them. It’s about hard work.
“If you want to be the best at the back, it’s all about work and belief.”
Will Saliba walk straight into the Arsenal first-team? Could Pablo Mari and David Luiz form a partnership this term to force Saliba to earn his spot?
Patrick
