Alan Smith has claimed that Arsenal defender William Saliba has ‘great ability’ and he is someone who will ‘strengthen’ the club’s defence upon his return to the club, as he told Sky Sports.
For the past two seasons, the 21-year-old has been out on-loan in France, more recently for Marseille, where he enjoyed a very fruitful spell.
Brought in when Unai Emery was in charge of the club, it has been three years since the ball-playing centre-back joined the north London outfit.
Yet, it’s remarkable to think he is yet to make his senior debut, in actual fact, he’s already donned the colours for France before he has for Arsenal.
Nonetheless, ahead of the player’s return this summer, this is what Smith had to say about Saliba and how he could develop further.
“William Saliba coming back will also strengthen Arsenal’s defensive options,” said Smith. “And it will be interesting to see what happens there.
“He’s another player who has great ability and is developing well. He’s made his debut for France after doing well on loan at Marseille.
“It’s going to be really interesting to see how this team develops. They got off to an awful start last season.
“But so far, the signs are good for this season and if they can take that positive energy into the campaign, it gives them a platform to have a real go at it.”
SALIBA NOW DESERVES HIS CHANCE
If Saliba can’t earn minutes for Arsenal next season, then there is something seriously, seriously wrong because he deserves his chance now.
When the Gunners finished outside of the European places a number of seasons ago, for the first half of that campaign, Saliba was at the club, yet he was never used by Arteta.
This despite the team, and especially the defence, struggling pretty badly, but now Saliba walks into a side where there is a settled centre-back partnership.
Gabriel and Ben White are the two main guys at the heart of the club’s defence, but behind those two, Saliba is waiting in the wings and with European football returning to the Emirates, then there are plenty of minutes to go around.
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