Former Arsenal right-back Bacary Sagna says that Gunners loanee William Saliba could become a real star for the club.
The 37-year-old Sagna, while referring to Saliba, said that the centre-back could go on to achieve great things at Arsenal provided he manages to adapt to the English game.
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Saliba technically joined the Gunners last summer but is yet to feature for the north London side due to agreeing to spend this season back on loan with Ligue 1 club Saint-Etienne.
The young French defender will join Mikel Arteta’s squad this summer and former Gunners defender Sagna thinks he will prove to be a huge hit at the Emirates Stadium.
Speaking to Goal about Saliba, Sagna praised the youngster for the wise decision to spend another season in the French top flight to give him the best possible preparation for life at Arsenal.
“First he will need to adapt to English football,” Sagna said.
“He is a big prospect for the future but Arsenal need him to perform as soon as he starts.
“He is aware of that probably, but he has a lot of qualities and he will learn fast. Hopefully he will achieve good things and become one of the best centre-backs in the league.
“He is very confident in defending, he is not afraid to defend one against one and most of the time he wins the duels, which is the best quality as a defender.
“You need some security, you need some presence and he has that.”
“For him, staying in the French league after signing for Arsenal was the best decision he could make because he knew he was going to change to a bigger club, but he knew he had to improve his performances.
“It was like a test, he had to step up his game during this season and the last game I watched of him was amazing. I analysed him as an Arsenal fan and he did very well.”
There is no doubt Arsenal fans will be keeping a keen eye on Saliba once he joins up with Arteta’s squad this summer and if Sagna is to be believed, the young defender could break into the first team immediately and give them the upgrade they need on unconvincing performers like Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos.