Luwi

After Arsenal lost the Europa League final in Baku against Chelsea, Josh Kroenke asked Per Mertesacker how the club can get a defender in the mould of Virgil Van Dijk. Mertesacker answered him that you’d need to have £100m to stand a chance to get a defender of that quality. Arsenal couldn’t afford that at the time. He asked Per about the best young CB who can grow into that mould in the future and without mincing words, Mertesacker said ‘William Saliba’. Arsenal signed Saliba almost immediately. He joined from St. Etienne. He was sent back on loan to St. Etienne. When he joined after his loan elapsed, he met a new manager in Arteta who didn’t think he was ready. Arteta didn’t register him for the 2020/21 season. He moved to Nice on loan in January 2021. When he came back from that loan, he was still deemed not ready. Senior figures within the club tried to persuade Arteta as to his readiness but he refused. Arsenal fans raised an alarm too. Does Arteta dislike Saliba? He was sent on loan again. This time to Marseille and he was brilliant. He won the Ligue 1 Player of the Year. Despite impressing at such a big club, Arteta still looked to see for himself. After a third loan, Saliba was more determined to show his readiness too. Arteta barely spoke to him when he joined for preseason. He said he wanted to see how much he’s grown naturally, without him interfering in his thoughts. Saliba also said he wanted to prove a point. He’d prove his readiness on the pitch and Arteta would have no choice but speak to him. After two training sessions from that preseason leading to the 22/23 season, Arteta had seen enough. He had a defensive monster on his hands, and he’d release him now. And that’s how Benjamin ‘Benny Blanco’ White became a right full-back for Arsenal and Saliba, a multiple-time Team of the Year player, and one of the best defenders in the world.