Amid Arsenal’s injuries and inconsistent form for parts of this season, William Saliba has still been his usual reliable self at the heart of Mikel Arteta’s defence.
Wrongly or rightly, Saliba was front and centre of Arsenal’s defeat to Bournemouth in October, receiving a straight red card, a yellow which was upgraded by VAR.
Otherwise, the Frenchman has been at his imperious best for Arsenal, helping to marshall the likes of Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko against Manchester United.
Kiwior was excellent alongside Saliba, a defender who was definitely taking confidence from the calibre of player alongside him.
William Saliba says Mikel Arteta never lost faith in Arsenal players
That being said, in a recent interview with Mirror Sport, Saliba made an interesting admission about how Arteta handled Arsenal’s poor run in recent months.
Since the November international break, Arsenal have been a winning-machine, but they are now attempting to remedy a period in which they lost a lot of ground to Liverpool in the title-race.
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Saliba said that Arteta never lost faith in his Arsenal squad, delivering a message that is now ringing true.
Saliba said: “He was with us, telling us that we are still a really good team. It was a tough moment but he gave us a lot of confidence to get back to playing the way we are now.
“And he was right because since the Chelsea game we are playing better, winning games and scoring a lot of goals. We can still improve but Mikel helped give us a lot of confidence [that Arsenal could turn things around].”
Saliba shares update on his future amid Real Madrid links
On his part, Arteta praised Saliba’s chemistry with Gabriel Magalhaes recently, comparing the centre-backs with some of the best duos in Arsenal’s history.
Fortunately for the Gunners, Saliba also suggested that he would be staying at the Emirates Stadium long-term in the same interview, saying he was committed to his contract.
Real Madrid still want Saliba, rumours that have refused to go away over the last year or so.
But given the progress of their respective projects, Arsenal should be confident of keeping their star defender around, one who has unfinished business in N5.
Despite only being 23-years-old, Saliba is one of the best centre-backs in Arsenal’s illustrious history, and he’ll now want to cement his legacy in north London by winning several pieces of silverware.
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