William Saliba has blossomed into a player Arsenal have built around.
He has only just turned 24, but is already a vital part of the Gunners’ defensive unit and the club’s former centre-back Martin Keown is glad to have such a Rolls Royce guarding the back line.
Arsenal saw what he was destined to become from a young age, snapping him up as an 18-year-old for £27million in 2019 from Saint-Etienne in his native France.
Even though he did not make his competitive debut until August 2022 after three successive loans at Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille, the decision makers knew he was worth the wait.
And once he did get his chance to shine, Saliba grabbed it with both hands and has never looked back.
One only needs to look at Arsenal’s goals against record since Saliba became a starter to see his importance to the team.
In the 2022/23 Premier League season – Saliba’s first as a starter – Arsenal conceded 43 goals, which was the joint third-fewest.
With a league campaign under his belt, Saliba stepped up a gear as Arsenal shipped just 29 goals in the following season.
The Gunners were the only team to concede less than 30 goals.
Arsenal are on track once again to have the league’s best defence this term having conceded 24 goals, with leaders Liverpool boasting the next-best defence with 27 conceded.
On an individual basis, Saliba has helped Arsenal keep 40 clean sheets from 92 league fixtures, or a clean sheet in 43 per cent of his Premier league games.
Keown, who played 400 games for Arsenal across 13 seasons, is better placed than most to understand the quality needed to be successful at centre-back for the Gunners.
A title winner himself, Keown acknowledged the mental toughness to stick out the somewhat unconventional route to Arsenal starter despite the big price tag at a young age.
“Well firstly, you don’t normally go on loan for three years when you arrive at a top level club,” Keown told talkSPORT.com.
“He could’ve been forgiven for thinking maybe he wasn’t a part of the future at Arsenal.
“But instead, the future has been built around him, he’s that good.
“I do think the last two or three games he’s dropped a little bit in an Arsenal shirt. That’s just a confidence thing.
“Gabriel is doing equally as well around him, so it’s about partnerships.
“But he’s a Rolls Royce in the way he plays.”
Keown, though, was quick to stress Saliba’s slight blip in performances is nothing to be concerned about.
Thanks to Arsenal’s watertight defence, of which Saliba is a key member of, it should come as no surprise the Frenchman boasts a 71 per cent win rate when he plays for the Gunners in the English top flight.
Such is Saliba’s success, he is also the fastest player in Arsenal’s storied history to reach 50 Premier League wins.
The 24-year-old is also a pillar of consistency when it comes to being available, a trait becoming increasingly vital given the amount of games players must play.
It’s why Saliba becoming the first Arsenal outfield player in Premier League history to play every single minute of a league campaign is nothing to be sniffed at, having accomplished the feat last season.
“Listen, this guy plays so many games,” Keown continued.
“He’s got to 50 Premier League wins quicker than any Arsenal player, that just says it all.
“There’s been some top defenders and some really good eras in recent times and there he is at the top of the tree.”
The immediate challenge for Saliba will be to keep his France teammate Kylian Mbappe quiet when Arsenal take on Real Madrid in the Champions League.
At present, the only silverware Saliba has won with the Gunners are two Community Shields.
A Premier League title may have to wait until next season too given Arsenal remain 12 points behind Liverpool.
But if Saliba can maintain his remarkable standards, there’s every chance he and his teammates can be the first Arsenal side since Keown and the Invincibles to win the Premier League in 2026.
