William Saliba - 18 year old centre back

Bastian

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He looks extremely promising already playing in St-Étienne's first team (16 league games this season).

Seems to time his challenges well, strong, and most significantly, seems very technically composed on the ball (especially for a tall player: 1.93 m).

Will Arsenal just get a free run at him?


Rumoured to go for 25-30m.
 

sglowrider

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At this point, anyone who can move faster than your Nan in her wheelchair is an upgrade for Arsenal.
 

dbs235

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(especially for a tall player: 1.93 m).
France have so many tall centre-backs coming through; Saliba, Zagadou, Badiashile, Kontate, Tobido, Diop, Diakhaby. What are they feeding them :lol:
 

red thru&thru

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And yet we're rumoured to sell one of our own youth CB's. I'd rather give Axel a go than buy this guy.
 

OleGunnar20

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Who do we think will be the best of this crop of French CB's? I've heard Badiashille is highly regarded, Zagadou looks rough from what I've seen, Diop furthest developed - the rest I've no idea about.
 

Lash

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A very good and promising prospect. I only watched him 5-6 times not that much but he gave me the impression of a very calm defender for his age. A beast in the air.
Really? I’ve only watched him a few times and that would be what I see as an area needs work. He’s a monster on the floor, very hard to get round or past. Uses the ball well also.
 

Lee565

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Him and Joachim Andersen combined would seem to end up costing less than what West Ham want for Diop
 

Garethw

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Going to Arsenal for 180 million monopoly pounds.
 

RedSky

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Who do we think will be the best of this crop of French CB's? I've heard Badiashille is highly regarded, Zagadou looks rough from what I've seen, Diop furthest developed - the rest I've no idea about.
He's the one I think we should be going for. Saliba looks a real talent though and could end up being a real bargain for Arsenal.
 

Rozay

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He's the one I think we should be going for. Saliba looks a real talent though and could end up being a real bargain for Arsenal.
We were close to signing Badiashile a couple of years ago, and I suspect he’s still very much on our radar, similarly to Upamecano.
 

Bastian

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Arsenal and ASSE are still discussing the transfer of # Saliba . Not yet agreed for the 2 clubs. Tottenham has for the first time contacted the # ASSE to inform them that they are discussing with the player and that they will make an offer in the next hours. # RMCsport
 

Jibbs

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If Arsenal manages to get both Saliba and Zagadou, they will have the best CB pairing in EPL 21/22 onward for at-least 5,6 seasons. I don't know why we gave away stupid contracts to Smalling and Jones when there are so many young talented CBs available between 15 to 30 million range. Seems like we will miss out on this crop of young french defenders as well.
 

Lash

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If Arsenal manages to get both Saliba and Zagadou, they will have the best CB pairing in EPL 21/22 onward for at-least 5,6 seasons. I don't know why we gave away stupid contracts to Smalling and Jones when there are so many young talented CBs available between 15 to 30 million range. Seems like we will miss out on this crop of young french defenders as well.
:houllier:. No, they definitely won't.
 

Gandalf

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If Arsenal manages to get both Saliba and Zagadou, they will have the best CB pairing in EPL 21/22 onward for at-least 5,6 seasons. I don't know why we gave away stupid contracts to Smalling and Jones when there are so many young talented CBs available between 15 to 30 million range. Seems like we will miss out on this crop of young french defenders as well.
That is a pretty huge reach. There are multiple top class teenage CBs out there right now and a couple of them will become elite but most will end up as just decent top league players and a few will turn into busts. Saliba and Zagadou look promising but if their future were as assured as you think then much bigger clubs than Arsenal would be signing them up right now. I like Saliba but he is a punt at this point, one I would like us to take but still a punt.
 

Jibbs

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That is a pretty huge reach. There are multiple top class teenage CBs out there right now and a couple of them will become elite but most will end up as just decent top league players and a few will turn into busts. Saliba and Zagadou look promising but if their future were as assured as you think then much bigger clubs than Arsenal would be signing them up right now. I like Saliba but he is a punt at this point, one I would like us to take but still a punt.
Yes exactly... there are multiple too quality young defenders available not just these two, although we need to sign one proper CB, we can also go this route and sign Zagadou. These two look the most promising along with Todibo Barcelona signed . There were some news about we going for Badiashie, but currently he is a notch below these three. But definitely one to watch out for next season. But he plays for Monaco and they charge hefty sums for their promising players. Even a half decent season next year and they will be asking 50 60 millions for him.
 

Bastian

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This is getting more interesting. Think he'll be some player. And getting another year in France is probably ideal for him.

Wouldn't be disappointed in seeing us joining the queue.
 

Lash

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Spurs seem like a much more obvious destination. They don't need him this year and they will probably lose Verts or Alderweireld, or both next year. Foyth in their plans should have stepped up by then, but there's a clear path to the first team for him.
 

arthurka

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Spuds outbidding Arsenal, Arsenal are some serious trouble if Tottenham are going to outbid them.
 

Red4Life_#7

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Whatever it is, it seems to beat beets in Africa. Imagine the talent if Africa had infrastructure.
Exactly, they might actually become world champions. I'm sure France are happy to accept Africa's best talent and the African talent are happy to have an EU passport and change the life of their families. So it won't change any time soon. Hopefully they send some money back to mother Africa and help build the infrastructure for the next generations to come.
 

hellohello

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Not gonna lie, I don't know anything about the player, but just the idea of hijacking a deal from Arsenal does make me kinda happy.
 

bond19821982

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Why are we not in for him ? Given what we have at CB anyone would be an improvement.
 

Adisa

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Yeah, but we can try avoiding another De ligt situation.
It's not about that. Our defence is a shitshow. We need a quick fix. You can understand why Ole would want to concentrate on £70m+ Maguire than another defensive project.
 

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This is why we moved from Highbury to the Emirates? So we could get outbid for players by fecking Spurs :lol: