Arsenal need to improve their team in January | Football Digest
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta appears to have been vindicated in his decision to sanction loan moves to Ligue 1 for star centre-back William Saliba. The defender joined the Gunners in 2019 but only made his first team debut in the summer of 2022 after being shipped off to Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille.
Arsenal shelled out £27million when Unai Emery was in charge to prise Saliba away from Saint-Etienne when he was still only 18 years old. The north London giants immediately sent the player back to his former employers, before current boss Arteta opted to green light another two temporary transfers away from the Emirates Stadium.
Saliba’s third loan spell with Marseille during the 2021/22 campaign proved to be particularly divisive. The 22-year-old enjoyed an incredible season in Ligue 1 and was extolled time and time again for his impact on the French side. But Arsenal were struggling in the Premier League at the time and didn’t even secure a top-four finish that season as they missed out on a place in the Champions League.
Arteta clearly thought Saliba needed another year to cultivate his game. And, despite the short term misery of Arsenal going without the ace, the decision doesn’t look quite so bad anymore.
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Saliba has become an influential player for the Gunners since being handed his full debut last August. He was a key reason for Arsenal’s early-season dominance last time around as his side led the Premier League table for the majority of the campaign. And his team derailed after he suffered a back injury and was forced to miss the final 11 encounters.
This season, the player is yet to miss a minute of Premier League or Champions League action, with Arsenal just one point behind league leaders Manchester City. So his journey to the top can hardly be criticised.
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But eyebrows were raised after an ESPN pundit overlooked Saliba when picking his team of the season so far as the player missed out to Tottenham star Micky van de Ven and Liverpool ace Virgil van Dijk.
And Liverpool hero Steve Nicol called the pundit out as he maintained the Arsenal man had not made a single mistake over the last seasons. “He’s not put in Saliba,” Nicol exclaimed. “He’s not put a foot wrong for three years. I know he was injured at the end of last year, but before that he was the best centre-back in the Premier League.”
Nicol then explained that Saliba and Van de Ven were the two players currently battling for the honour of being called the best centre-back of the season so far. “I would argue that it’s between him and Van de Ven who’s the best this year as well,” the 61-year-old added. “Van Dijk has had a decent start, but there’s no way you put him ahead of Saliba, not a chance.”
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