While being tested on his knowledge of former Arsenal players, William Saliba was presented with an image that led him to believe Everton boss Sean Dyche had once played for the club.
Saliba was signed by the Gunners in the summer of 2019 but returned to France for loan spells over the next few seasons, not making his debut for Arsenal until 2022.
Since then he has established himself as one of the very best centre-backs in the Premier League, with the 22-year-old's absence with injury towards the end of last season a crucial blow to the Gunners as their title bid fell apart.
Impressive on the pitch - less so off it. Saliba was shown a number of pictures of former Arsenal players by NBC Sports and asked to name them, which he did to varying degrees of success.
Saliba was able to identify Yaya Sanogo, who he played against in France, as well as Gervinho and Alex Song. Andrey Arshavin was eventually picked out too, though Saliba did briefly confuse him with Tomas Rosicky.
How well can William Saliba identify Arsenal players throughout the years? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/9UF3DIWa1z
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) November 22, 2023
Eduardo da Silva, Denilson and Manuel Almunia were not on the centre-back's radar, before the quiz came to an end with a picture of Philippe Senderos flashing up.
"It is the coach of Everton?" Saliba asked, believing he was looking at Dyche in an Arsenal shirt.
The Everton manager was a centre-back himself during his playing days, but that 20-year career did not involve a spell with the Gunners. Dyche spent eight years at Chesterfield and went on to play for the likes of Watford and Millwall, before retiring at Northampton in 2007.
Senderos, who is not currently in charge at Goodison Park but did have a brief loan spell with Everton, made 116 appearances for Arsenal. He arrived at the club in the summer of 2003, though he did not feature at all as the Gunners went on to go unbeaten in the Premier League that season. Senderos did pick up silverware for Arsenal though, playing in the 2005 FA Cup final.
