Emmanuel Petit has urged William Saliba not to be overly disheartened by the fact that he only played a handful of minutes at the World Cup in Qatar. The Arsenal legend believes that the Frenchman's situation is similar to something he experienced whilst with the national team at the European Championships in 1992.
Saliba only featured in one of France's seven tournament outings as they reached the final of football's biggest event. Kylian Mbappe's hat-trick ultimately wasn't enough to prevent Lionel Messi and Co. from completing their dream, but the good thing about having the tournament in winter is that players will now return to clubs to immediately begin domestic action.
With that return in mind, Petit has asked Saliba not to panic about the lack of playing time he experienced, and instead focus on the positives around being at a major tournament.
READ MORE: William Saliba breaks silence after World Cup final defeat as defender set for Arsenal return
"It reminds me of myself. When I started with the French team, I was the only young player in the squad, which is very different from today," he told Mega Casino. "I went to the European Championships in 1992, when Denmark won it, and I didn't play for a single minute. I was there only to get experience and to feel the environment - the pressure - to realise exactly what it means to play for your country at a major international tournament, to see how my teammates prepared to play the world's best players.
"I learned what the standards were to play for France, what I had to do every single day. Diet, training, everything. Of course, training is not new, but it is different than when you're with your club because the emotions are extraordinary.
"For Saliba, things are going really quickly for him. Three years ago he was on loan in France with St. Etienne because he didn't have the confidence of Arteta and then, everything changed for him when he went to Marseille. He started to fight. He started to show people what he was all about."
In fact, Petit has even compared Saliba's experience to Hakim Ziyech at Chelsea, stating that he advised the Moroccan to show more of himself after a tough time at Stamford Bridge. Ziyech then went onto reach the semi-finals of the World Cup as his nation became the first African side to reach that stage of the competition.
"I said something similar to Hakim Ziyech at Chelsea," he added. "When Arsenal beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge before the World Cup, I was working on French television and was on the pitch when I saw him running on his own.
"During a break from filming I said to him: 'Hakim, I don't recognise you. Where is the player we know? Are you going to stay like this forever, sitting on the bench with terrible body language? You look so miserable. You need to come back to the player we saw at Ajax. You're a world-class player, you need your confidence back. Do yourself a favour and fight. Don’t accept the critics' reality. So many people have criticised you, you need to fight and show some pride. That is the definition of a sportsman. Show some more respect for yourself and don't accept this situation. Fight.'
"He had a difficult relationship with Morocco, but then everything went right. I'm not taking any credit for that by the way, but the same thing has happened with Saliba at Arsenal. If you want to be a top player, you need to do things the right way."
Petit is merely hoping that Saliba understands why he wasn't selected as often as he would've perhaps liked by Didier Deschamps. Instead of being upset about it, he expects him to return to Arsenal ready to hit the ground running once again.
READ NEXT:
Arsenal to avoid naming Mykhaylo Mudryk in Premier League squad if £40m transfer is completed
What Dusan Vlahovic said following Juventus transfer as Arsenal January rumours reignite
William Saliba's World Cup frustrations hand Arsenal contract split verdict on renewal hope
Mikel Arteta's best alternative Arsenal line-up includes Aubameyang and Saka but no Martinelli
Arsenal news and transfers LIVE: The latest news, rumours and gossip from the Emirates Stadium
