Granit Xhaka has praised William Saliba for the ‘unbelievable’ start the defender has made to life as an Arsenal player so far this season, having finally broken into Mikel Arteta’s side.
Granit Xhaka hails ‘unbelievable’ start William Saliba has made as Arsenal star
William Saliba has impressed Granit Xhaka with the start the defender has made to life as an Arsenal player. Mikel Arteta has finally afforded the Frenchman a chance to feature at the Emirates Stadium, and is now reaping the rewards of what the 21-year-old can offer them.
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Arsenal loaned Saliba out for two-and-a-half of his three seasons under contract in north London before the new campaign. Unai Emery signed him from Saint-Etienne for £27m in 2019, but agreed to let him spend the subsequent season back at the former Ligue 1 club.
Arteta took a closer look at what Saliba could provide after his arrival in 2020, having taken over the reins from Emery late in 2019. But the centre-back left the Spaniard unconvinced, and a loan to OGC Nice followed before returning to France during 2021/22 with Marseille.
The Stade Velodrome proved to be the perfect setting for Saliba to showcase his potential as a ball-playing centre-half. He also demonstrated a strong ability in duels and great pace, to merit his France debut before his Arsenal bow with his maiden Bleus call-up this March.
Granit Xhaka expects new Gunners star to bounce back from Foxes own goal
Arteta is now seeing Saliba’s skill first-hand at Arsenal with the defender finally making his Gunners debut at Crystal Palace. The 6 ft 3 star rarely let Patrick Vieira’s squad have a sight of Aaron Ramsdale’s goal, and continued to shine from the back at home to Leicester City.
An unfortunate own goal took the shine of Saliba’s Emirates Stadium bow, but he offered a lot of positives against the Foxes. Brenden Rodgers’ side could rarely force a mistake out of the Bondy-born talent, before his attempted interception diverted the ball past Ramsdale.
Xhaka is confident Saliba will bounce back quickly from the own goal, as Arsenal’s new star defender plays with a maturity that far exceeds his young age. He also left the Swiss in awe with his form a week before to beat Crystal Palace in a long-awaited Premier League debut.
“This is football,” Xhaka indicated of Saliba’s own goal, via quotes by the Evening Standard. “People only see the own goal but maybe, hopefully, they’ll see what a game he had. This guy is 21. I think in his first game in the Premier League for Arsenal, he was unbelievable.
“You can see how… he looks like he is 30. He has discipline and big character. He is not so loud but he is a proper leader in my eyes. You can see he is amazing. He has a lot of quality and yeah, we forget the own goal because for 90 minutes he had a great, great game.”
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