Central defender, William Saliba is a central element of Arsenal and is now a major element of Didier Deschamps.
He is Bondy’s other talent. From this commune of Seine-Saint-Denis, Kylian Mbappé wasn’t the only one to go out to become a professional footballer. William Saliba also followed suit. Unknown to the general public, less visible than the Paris Saint-Germain striker, the Arsenal defender nonetheless remains one of the possible future executives of the France team. Owned by Arsenal since 2019 then loaned several times to the aforementioned French clubs, William Saliba now seems to have made a place for himself with the Gunners. With the Blues, he now seems to be at the top of the hierarchy even if his performance is still criticized by Didier Deschamps like the last gathering.
“IHe’s having a good season. He also does things that I don’t like as much. In the French team, he had reduced playing time, but when he played it didn’t necessarily go well. The hierarchy is not favorable to him at the moment. But he is there. Dayot (Upamecano) had some playing time which perhaps William had less. On certain players, I make sure to insist, because it could be confidence or small blockages that can change. Some people don’t have this problem, others take a little while. William had a reduced playing time, so that doesn’t go in the way of having great peace of mind.”
William Saliba started football very early in his hometown club, AS Bondy, the club where Wilfried Mbappé, father of Kylian Mbappé, coaches. If at the beginning, he played as an attacker before becoming a midfielder, the young footballer converted to central defender when he arrived at FC Montfermeil at the age of 14. Two seasons later, he joined AS Saint-Etienne where he completed his training before signing his first professional contract with the Greens on May 30, 2018.
After revealing himself to the general public with Saint-Etienne, he signed with Arsenal on July 25, 2019 for compensation of 29 million euros and at the same time became the best sale in the history of the Saint-Etienne club. If his start to the Gunners adventure turned into a nightmare – William Saliba played very little with the first team – he was finally loaned to OGC Nice on January 4, 2021. Back in England, he was loaned again without purchase option at Olympique de Marseille during the 2021-2022 season, a season where he will become one of the pillars of the Marseille team. Returning to England, it took on a new dimension. Since the start of the 2022-2023 season, Mikel Arteta has made the native of Bondy one of his executives in his starting eleven. A regular in the French team’s youth selections, William Saliba is called up for the first time on March 21, 2022 by Didier Deschamps for the A.
The story between William Saliba and the French team is recent. Before being called up by Didier Deschamps, he wore the tricolor jersey with the -16, -17, -18, -19, -20 years and the Espoirs. The central defender celebrated his very first selection for the France A team in March 2022 while he was still a player for Olympique de Marseille. It was precisely at the Vélodrome, against Cote d’Ivoire, that William Saliba played his first minutes, coming on in the 59th minute.
Summoned for the 2022 World Cupthe Arsenal player now has several selections with the France team, but does not have enormous experience and very significant defensive performance as he currently has with his club Arsenal in England for a year.
Of Cameroonian origin through his mother, William Saliba could have played with the Indomitable Lions, but preferred to play with the French team. Often coveted by the Cameroonian Football Federation, the former Olympique de Marseille defender closed this chapter when Didier Deschamps called him up in March 2022, even if he remains attached.
“Cameroon is also my country. But I was born in France, it is necessarily my preference. Cameroon is my second country. But it is not my priority,” confided William Saliba in an extract from the show Le Vestiaire, published by RMC Sport, few months ago. As a reminder, Saliba still represented France in six teams, from under-16s to under-21s, never with Cameroon.