William Saliba has earned his first call up to the France senior squad after Benjamin Pavard withdrew following a positive test for Covid-19.
The centre-back, 20, has regularly captained his country at under-21 level in the last year and earns his promotion following a very solid season with Marseille for whom he’s already featured 40 times.
No doubt the news will be a huge confidence boost for the defender, especially after his recent comments about his form in 2022 being “very average”.
Les Bleus are hosting Ivory Coast and South Africa during the Interlull and there’s now an outside chance that Saliba could make his international debut before featuring in Arsenal’s first team.
Saliba is expected to return to London in the summer and there have been suggestions that the player will be offered a new contract.
Good luck to him..Can’t wait to see him in Arsenal colors!
Strange that we are being linked to Araujo….a right footed CB. Could be bollocks of course, but I wonder if we might cash inn on Saliba if a massive offer comes in?
I really want to see him in Arsenal colours, but he will be sitting on the bench…
Get back in the Champions League and there will be plenty of games to go around.
Very true 👍
Our team missed a france international
We’ve got a Brazilian and English International
And if he doesn’t sign a new contract this can only add £££s to a potential transfer fee so it’s good news all round.
Given Chelsea want to pay £70m for Kounde (or did 😂) how much is Saliba worth?
Probably about £60m would be my guess
I think we’d consider that, given how settled our defence is atm….
Koundé is a proven international, has played a few league seasons + CL. I’d say more about £40-45m for Saliba, which is already good business considering we got him for £27m.
50m+
Quite a turn around in form by the young man, from being deemed only good enough for under 21 football by us to 40 solid appearances in France’s top league and a senior national team selection, all in less than a year. Something doesn’t add up for me
MA doesn’t give a toss about ability if the attitude doesn’t coincide with his philosophy. Auba scored two for Barca, in the Bernabau no less, but it didn’t help his Arsenal career. No compromises on the non-negotiables.
What attitude are you tallking about concerning Ssliba’s time at Arsenal? The team has been doing very well for some time so it is difficult to blame Arteta fot anything. I really appreciate his job lately. However, he does have weaknesses in managing players. He thought Auba was finished and got rid of his contract pretending discipline but Auba is proving he was mistaken.
Please explain how getting rid of an aging striker who couldn’t play on the wing, couldn’t perform the Laca role, wasn’t scoring goals, wasn’t putting the requisite effort in and was earning £350k a week was a mistake.
Please explain why he is now scoring for fun at Barcelona?
It’s obvious- the system. Auba couldn’t adapt to ours, the role Arteta wanted him to play before he was offloaded to Barca. Moreso, all a player needs sometimes is a change of environment to be revitalized. Ask de Bruyne and Salah- all players Mourinho rejected but are superstars now.
La Liga tend to have weaker defences too..
It was a general statement and not any comment on Saliba. I think it is fair to say by now that footballing skills are not the only thing that is important to MA and his project. Saliba has had, by all accounts, a great loan spell. Whether that translates to adapting to the league and team setup is another hurdle for him.
Almost as if he needed some time to develop with regular football outside the pressure of a team fining it’s feet in the Premier League, you might say
L😄L, this is a never-ending debate. The evidence is there that the summer recruitment under Mikel has been successful. The evidence is also there that Mikel jumped the gun on Saliba, Guendouzi and Auba this season. Why the latter is so hard to admit? I don’t know.
Saliba is blooming right now because of decisions made by his representatives and himself. Lest we forget, if Mikel had had his way, Saliba would probably be in a relegation battle with some English club.
Saliba will come back better more experienced and not a teenager, teenage centreback in the PL thats clever. Auba was always a baller, but not in shape to do the job that was required by Arteta, why is that so hard to admit ? Guendouzi was a mistake, specifically the amount of money we got for him, it should have been more.
Saliba himself came back and said during the pre-season when he was assessed by MA he wasn’t ready – not fit enough and not at the right level. He looks like he is now, hence why we’ve cleared the room in the squad for him to join in the summer (Chambers gone and Mari on his way out).
Sounds like a player that we invested significantly in is turning into the kind of quality player we hoped when we got him. We were able to loan him to a team that has allowed him to make massive progress in his development. What doesn’t add up?
This is good news for Saliba. And further proof that France’s production line of quality footballing talent is as strong as ever.
Congrats, Saliba
I wouldn’t mind a new Vermaelen-Koscielny-Mertesacker triumvirate
So to conclude we have 3 defenders that are internationals for England Brazil and France? Ben White Gebriel and Saliba.
Not bad.
Even though you concluded the discussion, may I ask “who is Ben White Gebriel?”
Unfortunetely the discussion is concluded end you ere not ellowed to esk questions.
The lad keep growing !!!
Does anyone knows what’s up with Charlie Patino, please? He’s presently nowhere to be found.
Or have I missed something? 🤔