Kevin Nolan has shared that West Ham United were watching Arsenal centre-back, William Saliba, as he praised Mikel Arteta for how he has handled the player, as he told The Last Word on Premier League Productions (03/10/22 10:55 pm).
The West Ham United coach added that William Saliba is now ‘flying’ in Arsenal colours and he has benefited from his previous loan spells, including his stint at Marseille last season.
In 2019, with Unai Emery in the dugout, Arsenal signed the fresh-faced teenager to provide some much-needed quality and longevity to a backline that was old, error-prone and lacking cohesion.
It wasn’t a case of Saliba going to be thrown into the deep end straight away, but not many accepted the France international to wait until 2022 to make his debut.
But that’s what has happened, mainly because of Arteta drowning out the noise from the outside, sending him out on-loan twice, before introducing him into the big time this season.
It’s proved to be a great success because Saliba could argue that, at this present time, he has been the best-performing defender in the Premier League, as Nolan shared West Ham’s previous interest in the player.
“We go through all the players,” said Nolan. “When Arsenal signed him, we knew a lot about this lad. He was a talent at that point, Arsenal realised that, you have to give them credit, they spent the money.
“He (Arteta) sent him out on-loan. I think, if I am right in saying, Edu wanted him to be part of the squad (last season), but Mikel Arteta said ‘no, give him another year’.
“Then, he has gone away, to Marseille, done really well and you look at him. He’s flying. That back-four looks really good.”
SALIBA’S PERFORMANCES COULD BE SEASON-DEFINING
Arsenal missed out on Champions League football right at the death last season and it could be argued that if this Saliba was at the club in 2021/22, then they probably would have secured a top-four finish.
Saliba’s presence at the back for Arteta could be, not just game-changing, but season-defining for the north London club.
They are proudly sitting at the top of the Premier League table, with their rising star playing a huge part in their great start to the campaign.
Not since the days of Thierry Henry and Robert Pires have Arsenal fans had such a belief that this team can do some serious stuff.
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