William Saliba stat proves that Arsenal star belongs in FIFA The Best XI and humiliates Man City ace

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Arsenal defender William Saliba has now established himself as one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League.

William Saliba is a lynchpin at the back for the Gunners, and has formed a formidable partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes.

Mikel Arteta has become hugely reliant upon the France international. Saliba played every minute in the Premier League for Arsenal last season. 

The 23-year-old’s consistent excellence has now been recognised. Saliba was recently named in FIFA’s The Best XI.

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William Saliba stat proves Arsenal star is world class

Saliba deserves to be categorised amongst the very best in the game, and has demonstrated recently that he can have an impact at both ends of the pitch. 

Earlier in December, he scored in back to back Premier League outings for Arsenal, netting against Manchester United and Fulham. 

His quality on the ball also allows him to launch attacking moves from deep. This contribution in the final third has resulted in the following statistic coming to light, as shared by The xG Philosophy on X:

“William Saliba has generated more xG in the last two weeks (2.38) than Jack Grealish has in the last year (2.33).”

Whilst Saliba deserves a great deal of credit, this stat obviously reflects very poorly on Jack Grealish. The £100 million Manchester City star will be humiliated by his poor return over the course of this lengthy period.

Can Arsenal keep Saliba?

Saliba’s quality, especially given his relative youth, has unsurprisingly attracted attention from admirers.

Real Madrid are thought to hold an interest in signing Saliba, and the Spanish giants have the financial might to tempt him away from the Emirates Stadium. 

However, Arteta will be desperate to keep the defender in North London for as long possible. In order to achieve that, though, Saliba will have to feel that his ambitions can be realised at Arsenal. 

A player of his quality ought to win plenty of silverware in his career. The only way the Gunners will stand any chance of convincing Saliba to commit his long-term future to the club is by seriously competing for major honours on a consistent basis.