An insight into William Saliba: The teenager on loan from Arsenal that is dragging Saint-Etienne out

Before this year, you would have needed to be a very passionate follower of football to know who this random 17-year-old was when he broke onto the scene with Saint-Etienne. One year on and he's being touted as one of the greatest defensive prospects in European football. Here's a deep dive into the 18 year old centre back that has football purists all over the world purring over his ability.

William Saliba was born on 24th March 2001 in Bondy, France. In 2008, he was first recognised as a prospect when he joined AS Bondy, where he spent 6 years learning the defensive trade. However, during his youth days, Saliba would also spend time playing in attacking midfield, something which helped him develop his technical ability above the average for a defender. The young Frenchman then spent a further two years at FC Montfermeil before being picked up in 2016 by AS Saint-Etienne.

Saliba's youth career is an incredible one. The teenager played above his age group at every possible opportunity, not only due to his ability, but also his remarkable physical presence. Aged 15, Saliba was playing with the U17s and, due to his excellent performances, he was promoted to the U19s after only one season, aged 16. The teenager continued this trend as after just the one season with the U19s, he was promoted to the senior team, making his professional debut aged 17.

The 2018-2019 season was a big one for Saliba. Despite not even being an adult, he was getting game time in one of the best leagues in the world, coming out victorious on his debut in a 3-2 win away at Toulouse. However, his game time only started to become a regular occurrence mid-way through April as beforehand, his season was mainly compromised of sitting on the bench, making just seven starting XI appearances.

Saliba finished the Ligue 1 season with a grand total of 16 appearances, ten of those coming in 2019. However, for a 17/18 year old, his effect on the team was scary, to say the very least. In 2019, without the teenager, ASSE played 10 games, winning only three and conceding 15 goals. On the other hand, with Saliba in the team, they won 8 of their ten games conceding just four goals. Without a shadow of doubt, William Saliba was one of the driving forces behind Saint-Etienne's journey to finishing in a Europa League spot that season.

As the transfer window arrived, all the focus was on another young defender by the name of Matthijs de Ligt, who helped lead Ajax to the semi-finals of the Champions League. However, this didn't stop the interest in William Saliba, who eventually joined North London giants Arsenal over their rivals Tottenham. Most youngsters would've jumped at the chance to play for Arsenal straight away, however Saliba personally requested that he spent another season in France to continue his adaptation into senior football. This is an excellent demonstration of the maturity from the 18 year old, whose showing that he doesn't want to rush into the big time without making sure that he feels ready.

It goes without saying that Saliba's £26m move to North London meant that there would be a lot more attention and pressure on the 18 year old. Arsenal fans all over the world would be starting their scouting missions, watching his movements every second of the game, while rival fans would look to find any mistake he makes and over-dramatise it to make him seem a flop. However, given how the season's gone so far, those rival fans would struggle to point out a weakness in the teenager's game.

Unfortunately for Saliba and ASSE, his season began with a six week hamstring injury, one which would have a devastating effect on the team. Prior to Saliba's return, Saint Etienne had won one game from seven in the league, leaving them stuck in the relegation zone. However, Saliba made his return in added time in a 1-0 win over Nimes Olympique, but his return came too late for the manager Ghislain Printant, who was sacked shortly after, with the club 19th in the league.

Former Lyon coach Claude Puel was appointed as his successor, and ironically, his next game was against Lyon. Saliba made his full return in a huge 1-0 win that saw Lyon manager Sylvinho sacked. All of a sudden, things began to look positive again for Saint-Etienne, as once again William Saliba demonstrated his importance to the side.

Since Saliba's return, Les Verts have kept four clean sheets in five games, including one most recently against high scoring Monaco where Saliba kept the league's top scorer Wissem Ben Yedder silent, something no one has been able to do in his last 6 games. However, credit must also go to the new manager Claude Puel who hasn't lost a game since he took over and is no doubt a big factor in their success since Saliba's return. The pair of them came in with ASSE bottom of their Europa League group and in the relegation zone in the league. Since then, they have gone unbeaten in the Europa League and sit two points behind second place in the league.

Claude Puel didn't hesitate in his praise for Saliba, however he showed his frustration that he wouldn't have him there next season. In an interview with L'Equipe, he said: “It’s hard to accept that we sell our best player, a young kid, to help fill the coffers.” According to the Athletic, there's a strong feeling around the club that Arsenal should've paid a lot more than they did for Saliba, as people are left scratching their heads at how the Gunners bought him so cheap.

I had the pleasure of watching him against Monaco on Sunday night, and I only needed to watch one of his games to get the impression that he will be a world class footballer if he continues to improve at the rate he is. He looked a natural leader, ordering his defensive line, including defenders in their thirties, to stay exactly in line with him. He was unnaturally strong, keeping any striker who dared to move near him in his pocket, and his defensive positioning and awareness was first class, especially for someone so inexperienced. More so, he's an excellent and composed ball playing centre back, best highlighted by an effortless 60 yard diagonal pass to the Saint-Etienne winger Romain Hamouma.

Arsenal and French fans have every right to be excited about William Saliba. He's currently the first French player since Kylian Mbappe to be playing two years above his age group in the French national team setup and he's a man who, despite still being a teenager, has sent Saint-Etienne from potential relegation candidates, to contenders for those European spots at the top of the table. With Arsenal's leaky defence still a massive hindrance on their results, there's no doubt that they can't wait to have him back. With their world class attack, if he has a similar impact on the Arsenal defence as he does with the ASSE defence, then Arsenal could be looking to become serious contenders again in the not so distant future.

*all stats were taken from transfermarkt