Arsenal will welcome William Saliba to the club next season.
Arsenal fans are excited to see William Saliba join the club next season once his final year at Saint-Etienne is complete.
The Gunners signed Saliba last summer before loaning him back to the Ligue 1 club for the season.
Saliba has had a tremendous season for Saint-Etienne and has been talked up by his former youth team coach Fabio Frasconi.
Speaking to Saint-Etienne’s official club website, Frasconi compared Saliba to Real Madrid star Raphael Varane.
He said: “William will go far, far away. He reminds me of Raphael Varane.
“As a kid, he was already above the lot, technically clean, comfortable with the ball. I had positioned him at the centre-forward position. Evolving in central defence would not have allowed him, in my opinion, to progress.
“I feel a huge sense of pride when I see him play at this level, with this composure, this maturity, this accuracy, this sense of anticipation and this application.”
Saliba’s outstanding talent syncs with Arsenal’s desperate need for a dominant centre-back.
So enthusiasm about what he can bring to the Gunners’ next season is rightly sky-high, the only problem is whether he can meet expectations.
Providing there is a level of patience with him, Saliba should do just fine. The comparisons to World Cup winner Varane are a huge compliment, and for Arsenal, he could be worth the wait.
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