William Saliba has been nothing short of phenomenal since being brought into the fold at the Emirates after three years out on loan in France. When he was sidelined by injury towards the back end of last season, his absence was felt having quickly established himself as one of Mikel Arteta’s most important players.
The Frenchman joined Arsenal shortly before Arteta’s arrival and did so on the recommendation of a player that the Spaniard had a very difficult relationship with – Matteo Guendozi. Speaking on his arrival four years ago, Saliba revealed he snubbed interest from Tottenham and other clubs to join Arsenal after being ‘gently advised’ to make the move by his compatriot Gunedouzi.
Arteta sold Guendouzi to Marseille in 2020 after dropping him from his squad due to problems with his “attitude and general conduct” following an on-field bust-up with Brighton’s Neal Maupay. Ironically, Guendouzi also pushed for Saliba to join Marseille during his time on loan there two seasons ago. “I hope William stays here [Marseille],” said Guendouzi last year.
“He’s having a great season; he deserves everything that has happened to him. He’s a great guy outside, he’s had a lot of great games. William now has Marseille in his heart and I am sure that he will come back to Marseille next season. So I am going to try to push again for him to stay with us.”
But the 22-year-old chose to stay in north London and recently signed a fresh four-year deal with the Gunners. Saliba was once again a stand-out performer for Arsenal on Sunday as they lifted the Community Shield after defeating Manchester City 4-1 on penalties following a 1-1 draw over 90 minutes.
Saliba had understandably been linked with top clubs, including PSG and Real Madrid before he signed his new contract. But despite heavyweight interest elsewhere, the France superstar insisted it was an ‘easy’ decision to stay with the Gunners and has since been rewarded with the second trophy of his career.
“Honestly the decision was easy,” Saliba told the club’s official website at the time. “I had a really good season last season, but unfortunately I didn’t finish it because of injury. So I want more. I want to play more years for this amazing club. I didn’t achieve anything yet, so I want to win everything with this club.
“I think we can achieve everything. Of course, it’s easy to say this, but we have the coach, we have the character, we have the players and every year the team gets stronger. We have better players with a good mentality. We have a good experience from the last season as well. We know that the season is so long. So we are confident and we know we can do something good at this club.”