Spanish Reporter: Arsenal Are Targeting Saint-Etienne Starlet William Saliba

By The Editor
on 19th May 2019

Spanish reporter Kike Marin claims Arsenal have their eye on the 18-year-old defender…

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Spanish reporter Kike Marin has confirmed his earlier reports that Arsenal are targeting Saint-Etienne’s highly-rated defender William Saliba.

The El Confidential journalist refuted the various reports emanating from the British press that we’re eyeing Barcelona’s Samuel Umtiti and Espanyol’s Mario Hermoso to strengthen our defensive options.

Adding defensive steal is one of the priorities for Unai Emery in the summer, especially when you consider we equalled the tally of our worst defensive Premier League campaign by conceding 51 goals.

It’s what essentially cost us our place in the top four and given how many of those goals were the result of individual mistakes, we need better personnel as well as work on the training pitch.

“The central defender that Arsenal want is not Hermoso of RCD Espanyol nor Umtiti of FC Barcelona. He is not Spanish and plays in France,” Kike Marin originally posted on Twitter.

That’s correct.. ? #Arsenal https://t.co/V74j454JRl

— Kike Marin** (@Kike_Marin_) May 19, 2019

That information perked up the ears of Arsenal fans online and after many pressed the Spaniard on who the mystery defender was, he later confirmed a fans’ suggestion that Saliba was the man in question.

The teenager has been likened to World Cup winner Raphael Varane in his style of play, and he stands at 6’4”. Hailing from Saint-Etienne’s academy, the French side have produced some stellar players in recent years including Kurt Zouma and Blaise Matuidi.

Despite signing a new four-year deal in April, it seems the club believe that was a move intended to increase his value rather than a show of long-term commitment.

For the fans, one of the concerns surrounding the squad was the average age of the group and the fact that it was increasing over the past few years.

Signing the stars of tomorrow could save us a few quid and would ensure that we have solid platforms to build on.