Arsenal star William Saliba has been truly outstanding for two seasons, and is one of the best centre-backs in Europe.
The Frenchman has been a revelation since he came into the Arsenal starting XI in August 2022 after several loan spells away.
Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes helped form the strongest defensive unit in the Premier League, with just 29 goals conceded in 38 games this season, and both players formed an incredible partnership.
Despite this, Saliba is often overlooked for the France National Team, with Didier Deschamps seemingly set to start Ibrahima Konate and Dayot Upamecano ahead of the Arsenal ace at Euro 2024, and he has now finally explained his reasoning behind the decision.
Didier Deschamps praises William Saliba but explains what he is missing for France
Speaking to The Athletic, Deschamps claimed that whilst Saliba did impress him this season, he is overlooked for a starting spot because he does not have the same connection to a centre-back partner as his other options.
“William is one of the very best defenders in the Premier League. I want him to do what he does very well at Arsenal. He had a very, very good season. He played many matches, especially with his partner Gabriel, and they were a fundamental part of what Arsenal did this season, particularly in the defensive aspect,” he stated.
“With us, he has not had the same playing time. There are automatisms which develop through playing matches together. You have repetition and understanding. With a national team, we always have so little time, but now they have the possibility of living together for a few weeks and that is even better.”
William Saliba overlooked for France because of former RB Leipzig stars
Deschamps’ reasoning seems baffling when considering that Upamecano plays for Bayern Munich, and Konate for Liverpool. Both central defenders had inconsistent seasons with mistakes in big games, and Saliba is arguably better individually than both.
However, both formed an outstanding partnership at RB Leipzig before they left, and the pair have played together for years. Saliba’s exclusion as a result, has little to do with his own ability, but is simply a case of preferring to keep continuity.
Saliba and Gabriel’s partnership is also a good example of this. Mikel Arteta prefers to keep continuity with these two, and Jakub Kiwior has hardly played in his natural position at centre-back as a result.
Arsenal players and transfer targets at Euro 2024
In this week’s episode of Cannon Fire – The Arsenal Insider Podcast, Will Jones and Rahul Lakhani discuss the European Championships. With 11 Arsenal players set to feature at the tournament, the pair debated which players could be fighting for their futures, and which are destined to succeed on the international stage.