After shining in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace last week – Saliba was named Man of the Match – the Arsenal No.12 unfortunately blotted his copybook by scoring an own goal against Leicester.
However, Arteta believes the 21-year-old’s display against the Foxes was actually better than his performance in south London, because of his reaction to the mistake.
As quoted by Football London, the 40-year-old said: “I am happier with him today than I was against Crystal Palace last week, because of how he reacted to the own goal.”
You know what was the best part about today? William Saliba getting huge support from the Emirates crowd after the own goal. Everyone was chanting his name, even got a standing ovation for an interception. It was so great to see.
In truth, it was another very impressive display from Saliba, and he actually seemed to get even better after nodding the ball beyond Aaron Ramsdale and into his own net.
In the moments after his error, the Frenchman confidently sent one of the Leicester players chasing shadows with a tidy body feint, which was met with a roar from the Arsenal fans – almost as if they were celebrating a goal.
In our view, Arsenal handled Saliba’s development excellently by sending him on several loan deals.
The Bondy-born defender spent time on loan with St-Etienne after joining the Gunners in a deal worth £27m back in 2019, before he spent the following campaign on loan at OGC Nice.
Saliba then really came of age last term at Marseille, where he became a France international – which is no easy thing to do given the quality Didier Deschamps has at his disposal.
The youngster has now amassed five caps for his country, and on the basis of his start to life in the Premier League, he is now more than ready to deal with expectations.
