Following a decisive 3-1 victory for Arsenal over their London rivals Spurs earlier today, fans and pundits were lavishing praise on the Gunners' 21-year-old French centre back William Saliba.
The young defender has been on loan at Saint-Etienne, Nice, and Marseille in recent seasons, but was brought back to the Emirates ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
And while he has been at Arsenal since 2019, his presence at the back in recent games has given the feeling of a new multi-million euro star signing.
Fans Go Crazy Over The Arsenal Centre-back
Fair to remember Arsenal invested almost 30m to sign William Saliba when he was 19. What a signing. Vision. ⭐️🇫🇷 #AFC
OM wanted to invest big money to sign Saliba in the summer, another top European club asked for him…
Arsenal were clear: untouchable. pic.twitter.com/LRRzdjeWxV— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 1, 2022
William Saliba is the best young centre back in world football and it isn’t a debate.
— Patrick Timmons (@PatrickTimmons1) October 1, 2022
Saliba nutmegging players in their own box, you love to see it! 😆
— Evan Cooper (@Lacazest) October 1, 2022
William Saliba. Give this guy a blank cheque. Let him write whatever number he wants on it. Generational defender.
— Sash ~ (@ltarsenal) October 1, 2022
I know it has been said many times this season but my god Saliba is something else. Rolls royce of a CB.
— Matt (@MGH) October 1, 2022
Saliba is actual class. The best CB in the Premier League this season so far
— TC (@totalcristiano) October 1, 2022
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Saliba spoke to Arsenal .com this summer about his aims for the 2022/23 season, after being named Ligue 1's Young Player of the Year.
“I was very proud [to win the Young Player of the Year award] because the league has a lot of good young players, so it’s good for me but I want more.
“When I was on loan I watched every single [Arsenal] game because when I was there some players weren’t. I watched the games to see how they played, so when I was back it would be easier to play with those I hadn’t met before.
“It’s important that the fans are behind you, and I like it very much. I can’t wait to give back to them.
“We spoke a little bit on Monday and will speak more. My plan is to fight and work with the team, win as much as possible, and grow more.
“It feels good to be back and starting pre-season. I’m so excited to continue training and playing in the friendly games. It’s important to be here with the fans, as well as my teammates. I hope we’ll enjoy some good training and games which is important before the start of the season.”
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