After Jonathan Clauss and Christopher Nkunku, William Saliba is the third “newcomer” to the Blues rally in March. Called up by Didier Deschamps to compensate for Benjamin Pavard’s withdrawal on Monday March 21, the central defender of Olympique de Marseille will perhaps experience his first selection at the Stade Vélodrome for France-Côte d’Ivoire on Friday March 25, or during of France-South Africa, Tuesday March 29 in Lille.
Trained in Saint-Etienne, in blue since he was 15
As he celebrates his 21st birthday with the Blues on Thursday, William Saliba is a regular in the national team. Successful with the youth teams of Saint-Etienne, where he was trained, the central defender was called up with the Bleuets from the age of 15, in U16, before evolving with the U17, U18, U19 then the U20. At the end of 2021, he was also called up by Sylvain Ripoll for the Espoirs, of which he was the captain in the last matches.
Before that, Saliba was still negatively noticed when an obscene video dating back at least three years was posted on a social network in February 2021. The defender was filming one of his teammates in the France U17 team masturbating. Quickly deleted, this video still earned him a one-month suspended suspension from the French Football Federation.
Recruited by Arsenal without ever playing there
Revealed in the jersey of AS Saint-Etienne in 2018 and 2019, William Saliba catches the eye of Arsenal recruiters. He signed with the Gunners in the summer of 2019, for nearly 30 million euros, but did not play any matches with them. Failing to gain the confidence of Mikel Arteta, he was successively loaned to Saint-Etienne, Nice last season, then Marseille this season. His loan to OM does not include an option to buy, he should return to Arsenal next summer, with a new label of international player.
Indispensable for Jorge Sampaoli
Since his arrival at Olympique de Marseille, William Saliba has become an indispensable element for the Argentinian coach of the team. The central defender has only missed three of OM’s 43 games this season. In Ligue 1, he only stayed on the bench during the trip to Angers in September, but played all the other matches, without being replaced. Not spared, he is nonetheless lucid and clean in his interventions, since he has collected only six yellow cards in 40 games.
✌️ 1st call with the@French team for
Initially called up with the Espoirs, our defender will finally discover the A’s: he will play the friendly matches against Côte d’Ivoire (25/03) and South Africa (29/03). pic.twitter.com/iawSMvwMAj
– Olympique de Marseille (@OM_Officiel) March 21, 2022
A profile similar to Benjamin Pavard
From the height of his ninety-two meter, William Saliba is an athletic defender, who should fit perfectly into the system wanted by Didier Deschamps. A central defender by trade, he has already helped out in clubs as a right-back, in Saint-Etienne and Marseille. While the coach wants to establish a central three defense, he should be aligned on the rightmost position of this trio.