Arsenal defender William Saliba was handed another chance to change France manager Didier Deschamps’ mind in a rare start against Canada on Sunday.
Heading into Euro 2024, Saliba is not expected to start for his country – a remarkable exclusion given his season in north London.
Instead, France will field a pairing of Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate and Bayern Munich centre-back Dayot Upamecano.
Neither would start ahead of Saliba at club level, and yet Deschamps’ decision appears to be concrete.
Saliba is likely to be the best centre-back not playing in Germany – a profile Gareth Southgate would love to have available.
That being said, Saliba was handed one more chance to impress before the tournament, starting alongside Upamecano against Canada on Sunday.
The game ended in a 0-0 draw which will have no doubt frustrated Deschamps, but by a lot of accounts, Saliba was the man of the match.
Playing all 90 minutes of the clean sheet, Saliba arguably enjoyed one of his best performances in a France shirt, a display which hasn’t gone unnoticed by French media.
William Saliba ‘showed all his class’ in ‘perfect’ France display
Franceinfo were among the first to share their rating, hailing Saliba for his ‘excellent’ defensive work.
They wrote: “The Arsenal player was excellent. Not only did he ensure each of his restarts, but his defensive interventions saved the Blues from an unwelcome disappointment a few days before the Euro.
“His perfect tackle in front of Jonathan David in the 66th minute, not to mention the one against Jonathan Osorio in the 79th minute when the Canadian only had to finish in front of Maignan, showed all his class.”
And given his strong display, Maxifoot thought Saliba showed he can compete for start.
Handing Saliba a 7/10, the highest of all France’s performers, they shared: “The Arsenal central defender responded, solid on his support.
“He repelled the rare hot situations from Canada, like this strike from [Jonathan] David which could have put [Mike] Maignan in danger or this cross from Lille close to being taken over by [Jonathan] Osorio.
“He performed well from start to finish, showing he could compete for a starting spot.”
And lastly, So Foot simply declared: “You’re every bit the player you think you are, Wilo.”
A successful night for centre-back, especially given that Saliba had little chance to impress against Luxembourg recently.
It’s still baffling to this day that the Arsenal stalwart isn’t a nailed starter for his country, a decision that seems to be purely down to Deschamps’ judgement.
But all that being said, Saliba wasn’t the only Arsenal player who impressed for his country over the weekend.