Arsenal star William Saliba has been one of the best defenders at Euro 2024, and is now showing why he is already world-class.
Saliba has enjoyed two outstanding campaigns at Arsenal, and there aren’t many better centre-backs in European football than the 23-year-old.
Arsenal were blessed as Saliba played every minute of the Premier League campaign last season, after a season-ending injury derailed his side’s title challenge in 2023.
Despite this, it was expected that Saliba would start on the bench for France at Euro 2024, having been previously criticised by Didier Deschamps. However, he managed to prove his manager wrong, and not for the first time.
William Saliba proved Didier Deschamps wrong ahead of Euro 2024
France reached the semi-finals of Euro 2024 without conceding from open play, and Saliba was arguably his side’s best defender in this run.
Things could have been very different if Ibrahima Konate of Liverpool was selected instead, but a conversation between Saliba and his manager earned him a starting role.
“Deschamps felt the 23-year-old could be more focused and show more ruthlessness in one-vs.-one situations. Saliba didn’t take it personally; the two had a long discussion during the pre-Euro camp and, at the end of it, the Paris-born defender felt he could change his coach’s mind. And he has done just that,” French expert Julien Laurens told ESPN.
William Saliba had to win over Mikel Arteta at Arsenal
Saliba had to endure a tough first few years at Arsenal. Initially signed under Unai Emery in 2019, and loaned back to Saint Etienne, he surprisingly found himself out of favour in the first half of the 2020-21 season under Mikel Arteta.
The Frenchman was not even selected once, despite the likes of Pablo Mari, Rob Holding and Shkodran Mustafi starting ahead of him, and he was then loaned back to France in January 2021.
Arsenal then signed Ben White as a centre-back that summer, and loaned Saliba to Marseille, with Arteta unconvinced that he was at the right level for his side.
“The most impressive thing with Saliba is his quiet ambition and motivation to prove people wrong. He did it at Arsenal with Mikel Arteta, who was not at all convinced initially about the defender’s role in his team and was sent out on loan. He did it with Jorge Sampaoli at Marseille. And he’s done it this summer with Deschamps,” Laurens added.
His loan at Marseille saw him thrive as a young defender at a Champions League side, and this earned him a chance under Arteta, which he grabbed with both hands.
Saliba is now under a long-term contract at Arsenal, and is quickly becoming one of the best players in the world in his position, and Arteta will be thankful that he was proven wrong in his initial assessment of him.
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