Arsenal Centre-Back William Saliba 'One Of The Best In Europe'

Former Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker has urged Mikel Arteta to make use of young superstar, William Saliba.

The 21-year-old French defender joined Arsenal in 2019 for £27M.

Although having joined the Gunners three years ago, he is yet to make an appearance for the team having been sent on three loan spells to Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille respectively.

Through these loan spells, Saliba has continued to garner a name for himself with his most recent spell at Marseille being particularly impressive.

The young Frenchman made 36 appearances for the side and was a catalyst for the club qualifying for Champions League football.

To cap off a sensational year, he was voted Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year.

Saliba was also awarded a place in the Team of the Year.

Mertesacker went on to wax lyrical about Saliba stating:

"What William has done in Marseille is magnificent."

"He has clearly made his mark at a young age and playing in a major league in Europe. He's been one of the best players in Europe, so why not use him?"

Mikel Arteta has forged his favoured centre-back partnership of Ben White and Gabriel, who performed well last season.

Saliba will have to impress his manager greatly to permanently displace one of his teammates.

However, with the abilities that have been on full display over the last three years, surely the Frenchman will revel in the opportunity to do so.

With Arsenal returning to Europe and longer domestic cup runs surely being a target, plenty of football will played.

There shouldn’t be a lack of opportunity for Saliba to display the qualities that earned him multiple call-ups to the French national team.

However, with Saliba only having two years remaining on his current contract, Arsenal would likely like to extend the deal for many years to come.

The Frenchman is rumoured to have signed a new deal, but nothing has been confirmed officially yet.

Nonetheless, if playing time isn’t up to what Saliba would like, and with potential possible suitors for his services, the Gunners could find themselves in a drawn-out contract scenario that they have become all too familiar with.