William Saliba gave Arsenal fans a glimpse of the future in the aftermath of Saint-Etienne’s derby victory over Lyon at the weekend
The 18-year-old defender completed a £27million move from Saint-Etienne to Arsenal back in July before being loaned back to the Ligue 1 outfit for the 2019/20 campaign.
An injury meant Saliba missed the start of Saint-Etienne’s season, but the France Under-20 international played his first full match against Wolfsburg in the Europa League last Thursday.
And on Sunday evening, Saliba produced an outstanding performance on his Ligue 1 return as Saint-Etienne beat bitter rivals Lyon on home soil at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Second-half substitute Robert Beric scored a 90th-minute header to seal a dramatic 1-0 win for the hosts and there were jubilant scenes after the final whistle.
Saliba even grabbed a giant megaphone at one point and began leading the chants in front of Saint-Etienne’s rapturous home support.
The teenager sent Saint-Etienne fans into a frenzy. Just look at that crowd…
A glimpse of Arsenal’s future…
William Saliba leads the chants after Saint-Etienne’s derby win over Lyon. The stadium was ROCKING. ? pic.twitter.com/famRpmAy8U
— Metro Sport (@Metro_Sport) October 7, 2019
After signing on the dotted line with Arsenal this summer, Saliba revealed that Matteo Guendouzi played a major role in convincing him to join the club.
‘The history, the badge… since I was little, I’ve been watching Arsenal play in the Champions League,’ the young central defender said.
‘There are a lot of French players who have come through here. So that really helped me to make my mind up.
‘Yeah, I spoke to Matteo Guendouzi.
‘I even bumped into him at a funfair in Paris, and that’s where I told him that Arsenal wanted to sign me!
‘He gently advised me to come here and explained what it was like.’
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