by Even in the fiercest debates over Unai Emery’s Arsenal legacy in 2019, there is one indisputable point. William Saliba arrived that summer with a £27m price tag and an impressive reputation as one of the fairest teenage midfielders in the world, but it would be another three years before he made an appearance for them. Emery was long gone by then but it is an understatement to say that Arsenal have been transformed by the signing of Saliba from Saint-Étienne. On Saturday the two meet at Villa Park in what, against most pre-season expectations, could prove to be a crucial clash between the title contenders.
It’s another chance for Saliba and Arsenal, who are on a six-match winning run in all competitions, to show they can stay on course this time. “We have the experience of last season, of course we are better,” he says. “Maybe we can go better.”
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If they were to succeed where they beat Manchester City three days ago, it would increase the sense that they can. It’s easy to forget, when last season’s doomed title chase ends in the ashes, that Arsenal lost Saliba to a back injury in mid-March. Without him, they took 18 points from their last 11 games, a total well short of the level needed to get things done. Now he’s back at the heart of a team that, at least until Luton shook them up with three goals on Tuesday, has got used to giving little away.
No point pretending Arsenal didn’t miss him. “Yes, of course, and I missed them too,” he says. “It was difficult to be injured at this time of the season, but sometimes it is like this. Now I’m back and I’m stronger than ever.
“It’s behind me now. It was so hard to be injured, to watch my team play in these tough times and not be there. We were so close, but now we have a chance to compete again and we will do it.”
The story of Saliba’s early years at Arsenal, in which he was frustrated by three loan spells with varying degrees of success, is well told by now. “Sometimes you have to learn from some bad experiences,” he says, and it hardly seems as if his long-term future may be far from removing the Emirates any longer. Saliba hardly put a foot wrong in Arteta’s side, going through games with a rare combination of timing, physicality and pace. He praises the quality of players in the Premier League from top to bottom, but hardly anyone has beaten him head-to-head.
He fits Arsenal like a glove and the same is true of his immersion in north London life. Saliba is speaking at the Arsenal Hub, a year-round community center near the Emirates, where he is helping with some of the club’s local projects. On the evening of his visit, he and his colleague Emile Smith Rowe work on an anti-bullying project with pupils from a school in nearby Tufnell Park; they also take part in a session with North London United, a football group for young people with Down syndrome. There is also a question and answer session with some BTEC training students.
The young, changeable face of Arsenal’s squad is reflected in their interactions with the youngsters. Says Saliba: “We were all young people so it’s good to be with these kids,” he says. “We enjoy it, we make them happy so we are happy too. I didn’t have the opportunity to meet professional footballers when I was growing up but now I do [a player]if I can make some younger kids happy I will do it without hesitation.”
Saliba understands what it means to be a role model. It just so happens that one of his own, Virgil van Dijk, is his direct opponent in the most open title race in years. “Not long ago I was watching a lot of videos of Van Dijk and now I play in the same league,” he says. “I’m still very impressed but I try to watch everyone, I try to learn from everyone and one day with [hope to] be a role model for others.”
It may already be there, which is all the more remarkable given that Saliba turns 23 in March. It is hard to think of a defender in better form but he believes his development is far from complete. “I know I have a lot of work to do to improve my game but I have the right team, the right environment to develop,” he says. “So I will give everything to be the best centre-back in the world one day.”
The feeling is that if Saliba stays fit this time around, Arsenal should be in contention for the bitter end. Declan Rice has had a similar galvanizing effect since August, elevating his midfield with steel, security and the lethal touch he showed at Kenilworth Road. “We hope he continues like this and avoids injury because we want him to,” says Saliba.
Keeping the wins ticking, especially against sides like a resurgent Villa, would bring Arsenal closer to the glory that seemed like only a pipe dream when Emery brought Saliba to England. Their aims are clear and, finally, realistic. “To win the Premier League and go as far as possible in the Champions League,” he says. “We are playing to win everything. We only play to make up the numbers. We want to do it.”
