Arsenal defender William Saliba has revealed what moment in his career has been the most important so far.
The 23-year-old centre-back signed for the Gunners back in 2019, where Saliba experienced an interesting ride to the Arsenal first-team that featured three loan moves and six months of zero senior minutes for the Gunners.
Since the 2022/23 season, though, Saliba has been an undisputed member of the Arsenal team, with the defender setting a quite incredible Premier League record this year, with the youngster since representing France at the Euros.
And Saliba has now shared which moment in his career saw everything turn around for him.
Saliba says Marseille loan move was where everything changed
Speaking to the press ahead of tomorrow’s Euros clash against the Netherlands, Saliba highlighted his 2021 loan move to Olympique Marseille as the moment everything changed for the better in his career.
The defender was exceptional in his year at the Stade Velodrome, where Saliba was named Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year and that summer returned to Arsenal as a guaranteed starter under Mikel Arteta.
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Saliba said when asked about his journey to becoming a starter for the French national team: “I always knew that I could play at an international level, I never doubted it, even if it was not easy at first.
“The biggest turning point in my career was my loan spell at Marseille. It was decisive for the future, and it allowed me to test myself and to push for French [national] team.”
Arteta has been proved right in sending Saliba out on loan
It’s easy to forget just how discourse there was amongst Arsenal fans during the times Saliba was either sat with the U-21s or out on loan in France, with many believing that the defender was ready at the time to play for the senior side.
Yet like so many times already during his tenure, Arteta was proved right in giving Salbia the time he needed to develop before becoming a Premier League player, where the defender has been faultless in the two years since his debut.
Indeed, Saliba’s development plan at Arsenal was as perfect as it could be, and with the defender now one of the best in the world at just 23-years-old, Arteta deserves credit for how he went about integrating the youngster.