‘It’s certain’ – Former teammate of Arsenal’s William Saliba assures stopper ‘will succeed’
Last Updated: October 25, 2020 7:53 pm
Harold Moukoudi, former Saint-Etienne teammate of William Saliba, has moved to reassure any concerned Arsenal fans that the defender will go on to prove himself at the club.
Gunners spell
Saliba’s Arsenal stint has of course proven somewhat bizarre to this point.
The now-19-year-old was purchased from Saint-Etienne last summer, before being immediately loaned back to the Ligue 1 outfit, to gain further first-team experience.
The general assumption, in turn, was that Saliba would return to the Emirates this summer, ahead of playing a central role in Mikel Arteta’s first-team setup – the Gunners did, after all, splash out a reported £27 million on the youngster.
Saliba has, as expected, since returned to north London.
However, he is yet to secure any sort of consistent game-time. In fact, the Frenchman has not been afforded a single appearance for Arsenal’s first-team.
Instead, Saliba has been restricted to outings with the club’s U23s.
The gifted stopper’s exclusion from Arsenal’s Europa League squad only saw questions mount, especially when taking into account the fact that another loan move away from the Emirates, despite interest, was not sanctioned over the final weeks of the transfer window.
ST ALBANS, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 13: William Saliba of Arsenal during a training session at London Colney on September 13, 2019 in St Albans, England. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
‘He will succeed
As such, whilst of course not grounds for panic, Saliba’s situation has seen early concerns spread amongst sections of the Arsenal faithful.
As outlined above, however, fans of the Gunners need not fret – this is if the take of one of the 19-year-old’s former teammates is to be trusted, at least.
Speaking in an interview with ButFootballClub this weekend, Harold Moukoudi, who lined out alongside Saliba in France, assured that the Arsenal man’s ‘qualities’ make it a ‘certainty’ that he will soon go on to flourish at the Emirates:
‘I told him not to worry and to keep working. It will pay off.’
‘With the qualities he has, I am sure he will bounce back. He has enormous potential, no one can deny that.’
‘He has to hang on, take his situation patiently, but he will succeed. It’s certain.’
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This article was edited by Josh Barker.
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