Saliba is currently spending his third successive loan spell away from the Emirates and has been excellent for Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille this season. His exploits in Jorge Sampaoli’s side have also seen the 21-year-old earn a call-up to the French national team.
Despite signing for the Gunners back in 2019 for a massive £27 million fee from Saint-Etienne, Saliba is yet to make his debut for the club. Instead, the young defender has been loaned out to Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille.
Whelan has insisted that the French international has ‘served his time away on loan’ and has done well to ’learn his trade and fine-tune those skills’. The former Middlesbrough attacker has claimed that it ‘is really encouraging’ that the 21-year-old has pushed his way into the France squad. He told Football Insider:
Whelan has suggested that Saliba will ‘be competing’ for a place in the Gunners’ starting XI next season. The 47-year-old has also hailed the youngster for showing ‘brilliant character and attitude’. Whelan added:
Can William Saliba break into the Arsenal backline next season?
Gabriel Magalhães and Ben White have forged a solid partnership at the heart of the Arsenal defence this season. However, the North London side lack quality competition for places in a number of positions, including at centre-back.
With Saliba back at the club next season, the Gunners will definitely be a lot stronger defensively. The Frenchman is regarded as one of the finest young central defenders in world football right now and could be a part of Arsenal’s defence in the future.
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