Arsenal defender William Saliba has spoken for the first time since being called up to the France squad for their upcoming friendlies against the Ivory Coast and South Africa.
It was announced on Monday morning that the 20-year-old would replace Bayern Munich star Benjamin Pavard in Didier Deschamps' squad after the versatile defender tested positive for COVID-19. Saliba has enjoyed an extremely productive campaign whilst on loan with Ligue 1 side Marseille, registering 14 clean sheets for Les Olympiens, establishing himself as one of Europe's most consistent young centre-halves in the process.
Now, he has taken to social media to voice his appreciation at the call-up. His Instagram caption read: "Très heureux et fier d’honorer mon premier rassemblement en @equipedefrance", which roughly translates to: "Very happy and proud to honour my first call-up in @equipedefrance."
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It is Saliba's third loan in as many seasons, meaning he is still yet to make his debut for Arsenal's first-team despite signing for a reported £30million back in the summer of 2019. Still, football.london understands that the Gunners will review the youngster's situation at the end of the current campaign with preliminary talks over a new contract expected to take place.
When asked about his future back in December of last year, the Frenchman kept his cards close to his chest but did admit that he was very happy in Marseille, telling RTL via talkSPORT : "I prefer not to speak about my future, but I’m very good here. I don’t regret my decision. I have been very happy since day one. I have one year here and I am going to give my all.”
