William Saliba is bit of Rolls-Royce with way he moves and never seems phased, claims Aaron Ramsdale

After another excellent loan spell in France with Olympique Marseille, it had many wondering what William Saliba’s future looked like especially after the 21-year-old won the Ligue 1’s Young Player of the Season award. That combined with growing interest in the French defender had fans wondering how Mikel Arteta would fit him into the squad but eight games later and all those problems have vanished. The 21-year-old has slotted right into the back-four from the word go and has played every league game so far.

Not only that, Saliba has responded to Arteta’s show of faith by consistently putting in performances with arguably his best showing coming in the North London derby recently. It has seen interest in the defender rise and Aaron Ramsdale has praised the 21-year-old, as he admitted that Saliba is “a bit of a Rolls-Royce” with regards to his movement and how composed he is. The goalkeeper also added that Saliba still makes mistakes because he is young but the team is capable of mopping up.

"It is a credit to him (William Saliba) that he has been put straight into the team. He is a bit of a Rolls-Royce with the way he moves and he has never seemed phased. He is a young boy so still makes mistakes, so at the minute it is either Ben (White), myself, Gabriel or Thomas Partey digging him out and he is digging other people out as well,” Ramsdale said, reported Goal.

“That is the main thing at the minute, our mistakes aren't leading to too many things and that is the sign of a team with good characters in and around that back five."