Saliba joins Arsenal
Arsenal secured William Saliba’s services back in the summer of 2019.
The Gunners are understood to have paid a fairly hefty £27m to bring the centre-back to north London.
However, the now 19-year-old would be loaned back to his previous club, St Etienne for the 2019/20 campaign.
But due to some injury issues and Ligue 1 finishing prematurely, Saliba was limited to just 12 league outings this past term.
William will spend a season back on loan at @ASSEofficiel before joining our squad next summer.
🇫🇷 #SalibaSigns
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 25, 2019
The powerful centre-half has since joined up with his new club and has began training with them.
Want to see more images of William Saliba in action?
Check out our gallery of training photos
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 4, 2020
Saliba compared to top centre-backs
With such a hefty price-tag behind him at 19, there is a certain amount of pressure on Saliba to be a big success at Arsenal.
Said pressure is compounded when you realise how much money the Gunners have spent on rather average centre-backs in recent years.
In the likely event Gabriel Magalhaes joins, Arsenal have spent £135m on nine centre-backs since January 2015 and signing Gabriel mk1.
They’ve recouped less than £30m of it, a significant chunk coming from Bielik. A lot of churn and wasted money in that position.
— James Benge (@jamesbenge) August 23, 2020
One man who is seemingly backing Saliba to achieve big things in his career is France youth coach Jean-Luc Vannuchi.
Saliba has featured at youth level for all of France’s youth sides between under-16 and under-20 level.
And during this time, Vannuchi appears to have formed quite the impression of the Arsenal man, explaining how he is a mix of Virgil van Dijk and Raphael Varane:
“My first impression was that this was the biggest man of his generation.
“The difference between him and the other players was massive.
“When he took the ball and ran into midfield, no one could stop him. He was like a monster compared to the others. When he played with St-Etienne it looked normal for him, even though he was so young.
“A mix of the two styles.
“With Varane because of his speed and power, and with Van Dijk it is the interceptions, the positioning on the pitch.”
Quotes via the Evening Standard.
See also: Chelsea confident of Thiago Silva signing but Thiago Alcantara’s move to Liverpool is more doubtful
