William Saliba has been Arsenal’s best defender in the early months of this Premier League season. His dominance in the backline has been impressive, which immediately made him one of the first names on the teamsheet.
The Frenchman’s composure when defending and especially in possession of the ball makes it seem as though he is a veteran despite only being 21 years old. He has been a crucial presence in Mikel Arteta’s defence.
And it is due to his dominant trend that he also showed last season which has seen him rewarded with a call-up to the France national team ahead of the World Cup. It is set to be the Frenchman’s first senior major international tournament.
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At Marseille, Saliba showed the maturity required to be a regular Premier League centre-back, playing more minutes than any other player aged 20 and under in Europe's top five leagues. The French defender proved to be crucial for Jorge Sampaoli’s side as he started almost every Ligue 1 match during his spell at the club.
Saliba was awarded the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Season award following a stellar 2021/22 campaign in France. The 21-year-old has played nearly every minute of the league season for Marseille, keeping 13 clean sheets over 36 appearances. He helped the side finish second in Ligue 1.
Despite the impressive number of clean sheets, it is his on-the-ball attributes that would have impressed Arteta the most. Saliba showed throughout the season that he was one of the best ball passers from defence in Europe, as he made more passes than any other player in the European top five leagues.
The Frenchman also made the most ever passes compared to any other player in a single season throughout a Ligue 1 campaign in history with 2,834. This was accompanied by Saliba also having 558 progressive carries, which was the most for a player last season.
And since his return to Arsenal, he has also shown a similar trend. In possession, the Arsenal defender has been exceptional on the ball. Saliba has made 853 passes so far this season, completing 786 of them. That’s a passing accuracy of 92%, the second highest amongst Premier League defenders who have attempted a minimum of 250 passes since the start of the campaign.
The 21-year-old was pivotal in helping Arsenal to maintain their first clean sheet of the season at a tricky ground in Selhurst Park, which got the ball rolling in Arsenal’s best ever start to a Premier League season. The Gunners had lost 3-0 at the same ground in the previous campaign. His performance was so good that Jamie Carragher awarded the Frenchman with the man of the match award.
"I thought he was very good. He didn't have too much to do in terms of the first half, but there was one moment where Arsenal were pushing out a lot. Anderson kept putting balls over the top, but there was one ball that went in behind Ben White but the way he dealt with it," Carragher said on Sky Sports when speaking about Saliba.
Before you see him play, he looks the part, for such a young age, helping Ben White, Arsenal fans have been excited to see him. You can argue was it right to put him out, but he is 21 playing centre-back in the Premier League - do you do that when you're 19-20? It's not easy. He looked the real deal.”
His ability on the ball makes him a key asset to building up attacks which could highlight why Didier Deschamps plans to give him a starting role at the World Cup. GFFN reported that Saliba is expected to start alongside Raphael Varane of Manchester United and Monaco defender Benoît Badiashile. The expectation is that Didier Deschamps will play a 3-4-1-2 formation.
This season has been a major step in Saliba’s career following his long-awaited Arsenal breakthrough. A successful World Cup would certainly see the Frenchman be labelled as one of Europe’s best defender and his incredible statistics highlights that he has put himself in the best position to earn that label.
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