Mikeb

Ici oui mais pour les bouffeurs de stats c'est pas très glorieux. J'ai même pas envie d'imaginer où on serait avec Cech dans les goals cette saison.

Il me fait de la peine ces dernièrs temps. C'est un des seuls à sortir des bonnes performances mais il passe limite pour un tocard à cause de la défense en carton devant lui. Hier soir encore il nous sauve 2-3 fois et ne peut pas faire grand chose sur les goals.

Je pense que Javi était vraiment très apprécié des gardiens. J'espère qu'on trouvera un remplaçant du même acabit pour prendre ce poste.

La grosse nouvelle dans ce texte et que Ljungberg a son UEFA pro Licence donc pourrait continuer de coacher après les 3 mois si ça se passe bien.

Exclusive: Emery likely to be sacked as Arsenal head coach today Par David Ornstein Il y a 8m 10 It is becoming increasingly likely that Unai Emery will be sacked as Arsenal head coach today after 18 months in charge. The 48-year-old Spaniard succeeded Arsene Wenger on May 23, 2018 and led the club to the Europa League final last season. They spent heavily in the summer transfer window and made a reasonable start to this campaign, losing only one of 11 matches. But an alarming dip in form and confidence has seen the Gunners fail to record a victory across seven games in all competitions and amid growing discontent among players, staff and supporters, speculation over Emery’s future has intensified. With the former Valencia, Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain boss under contract until 2021, he was given the full support of Arsenal’s hierarchy in both public and private. The intention of the club was to review the situation next summer. But last Thursday’s abject defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt at a sparsely-populated Emirates Stadium is set to prove the final straw. It is understood that in the dressing room afterwards, Emery told his players to forget about the Frankfurt result because Sunday’s trip to Norwich carried far greater importance. He had no reason to think he would not be in charge at Carrow Road. However, it is expected that he will be relieved of his duties imminently, with assistant first-team coach Freddie Ljungberg the obvious candidate to take control of the team on a temporary basis.

Merci. Ca serait donc un intermim, ou alors on met officielement Bouldy comme nr1 et Ljunberg comme assistant.

Il devait parler devant des étudiants vendredi à Londres. Ca a été annulé.

Il a les papiers nécessaires pour coacher Arsenal Ljungberg? J'ai lu je ne sais plus où qu'il ne les avait pas encore.

Gladbach a déjà dit qu'ils ne reprennaient pas les joueurs qui sont partis, ils ne vont pas reprendre Granit, comme je disais dans mon poste précédent il y a peu de destinations possibles.

Gladbach ne le prendra pas, il ne va pas finir au Bayern ou à Dortmund, il ne reste pas beaucoup de club qui peuvent le payer en Bundesliga

Article intéressant paru dans l'Athletic, ça montre bien que depuis le départ de Wenger les loups peuvent rentrer dans la bergerie et qu'on va avoir des transferts surprenants dans le futur. C'est pas très rassurant cette connection entre Edu et Joorabchian. Edu, Kia Joorabchian and what it means for Arsenal Par James McNicholas Il y a 7h 24 Since Kia Joorabchian’s family fled Iran after the fall of the Shah, he has had various incarnations: aspiring scientist, oil trader, newspaper tycoon and notorious football magnate to name but a few. Through all the years, one thing has remained consistent in his identity: Joorabchian is an Arsenal fan. Some years ago, Joorabchian investigated the possibility of investing in the club of his heart. Ultimately, he made do with a £100,000-a-year corporate box. Until recently, his considerable influence in football did not extend to the Arsenal boardroom. He remained a spectator, just another supporter. When Joorabchian took his seat to watch Arsene Wenger’s teams, it was strictly pleasure — no business. However, that is now changing. Wenger’s departure has opened the door to a new era. There is another team close to Joorabchian’s heart — Brazil’s Corinthians — and it is through his association with the Sao Paulo outfit that he came to know their former player Edu Gaspar. When Arsenal wanted Edu to be their new technical director earlier this year, it was Joorabchian who brokered the deal. Joorabchian, who has spent so long on the periphery at Arsenal, finally has a man on the inside. The year before Joorabchian made headlines in England by bringing Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano to West Ham United, he had already sent shockwaves through South American football by shifting the Argentine pair to Corinthians. It was 2004 when the Brazilian club struck a deal with MSI (Media Sports Investments), a London-based investment fund fronted by Joorabchian. He publicly promised to rival Real Madrid and Manchester United in building “a team of Galacticos”. MSI pledged to wipe the club’s debts and invest a minimum of $35 million in exchange for 51 per cent of profits. A club that had been on the brink of economic crisis suddenly became a landing spot for some of South America’s brightest talent. The $22 million deal to sign Tevez from Argentina’s Boca Juniors was reportedly four times the previous Brazilian transfer record, and MSI put up a significant percentage of the money. In return, they had control of 35 per cent of the player’s registration rights — a strategy that was to become common practice for Joorabchian’s fund. Mascherano is said to have arrived as part of a collaboration between MSI and Global Soccer Agencies (GSA) — a firm linked to Israeli ‘super-agent’ Pini Zahavi. It was around this time that Joorabchian also began working with Jorge Mendes. It was the Portuguese agent who oversaw the transfer of Nuno Assis from Vitoria Guimares to Benfica in 2005. What was seemingly a straightforward deal between two Portuguese teams was in fact significantly more complex: the €600,000 transfer fee was paid in full by MSI. The player was then registered with Dinamo Moscow, before getting loaned to Benfica. MSI were effectively trading in ‘player futures’. The Corinthians deal came a few years before either Stan Kroenke or Alisher Usmanov bought shares in Arsenal, and Joorabchian has since admitted MSI explored the possibility of a takeover at the club before deeming it “far, far too expensive”. Corinthians came cheaper, and also afforded a chance to control the South American market — not only would the club become the destination of choice for local talent, but would also be the principle point of export when it came to moving those players to Europe. Edu’s career with Corinthians and Brazil would later be built on his relationship with revered manager Tite, but back in 2005 Joorabchian was less than enamoured with the coach and wanted to hire his own man. According to Brazilian media, a furious Joorabchian took the coach to task after a 1-0 derby defeat against Sao Paolo, even criticising him for choosing a player other than Tevez as penalty taker. Hours later, Tite was gone, replaced by Argentine Daniel Passarella. MSI’s impact on Corinthians was initially positive: in 2005, they won their first Brazilian championship in six years. However, things soon unravelled. The partnership between Corinthians and MSI was scheduled to run for 10 years but lasted just three. Cracks began to show when questions were inevitably asked about where the money was coming from. Who were MSI, the mysterious consortium Joorabchian represented? The Sao Paulo organised crime squad and the state public prosecutor instigated an inquiry which concluded there was sufficient evidence to “show that the Corinthians-MSI partnership is being used to practise the laundering of money”. Controversial Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky and Georgian tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili were identified as probable investors. Patarkatsishvili, the owner of Dinamo Tbilisi, but was best known for his aggressive attempts to assume political power in Georgia. Joorabchian denied their involvement, but then-Corinthians president Alberto Dualib has since admitted to attending meetings with both men. He also named Berezovsky as an investor in Corinthians’ planned stadium overhaul. MSI, Joorabchian and Dualib faced charges of money laundering, currency evasion, tax evasion and gang formation. In June 2007, the partnership was scrapped. Joorabchian was wanted for arrest, and MSI left its Brazilian offices empty and abandoned. Dualib was left to deal with the fury of the fans, who took to the streets in protest. Six months later, a debt-ridden Corinthians were relegated for the first time in their history. Remarkably, that was not the end of Joorabchian’s association with Corinthians. It would be 2008 before his arrest warrant was suspended; 2014 before he was cleared of all charges. Through that period Joorabchian was less conspicuous in Brazil, but never fully out of sight. The fall-out between Dualib and Joorabchian was significant. When Andres Sanchez rivalled Dualib for the club’s presidency in 2007, Jooarabchian canvassed for the new man. “He [Joorabchian] never walked away”, Dualib told Portal da Band. “In the very election that I lost, he worked for the opposition”. Once Sanchez took power, Joorabchian was back in favour. For their part, Corinthians stabilised and returned to the top flight at the end of 2008. Having done so, they made a couple of striking signings: goal-scoring legend Ronaldo, who had spent a year out of the game recovering from knee surgery, and former Arsenal and Valencia midfielder Edu Gaspar. For Edu, this move represented a move back to the club where he had begun his professional career more than a decade before. Edu is revered in Sao Paulo — so much so that when he was robbed at gunpoint in his Brazilian home, the perpetrators paused briefly to ensure a terrified Edu signed an autograph. “I was born in Corinthians,’ said Edu. “I started playing for Corinthians at five, I went to the first team, won important titles, was sold and then I came back and finished my career here … Corinthians is a club like no other in the world. Now, it is a rich club but it came from the poor people.” It was an emotional homecoming, but not an especially successful ones: a succession of injury problems limited him to just 15 Serie A appearances in a season and a half. Player and club agreed it would be best to cancel his contract and allow him to retire. Edu was only 32. As one door closed though, another opened. A few months later, Corinthians announced Edu would succeed William Machado as sporting director. It’s here that his working relationship with Joorabchian began in earnest. In Edu’s first year in charge, Corinthians were engaged in a lengthy transfer saga over none other than Joorabchian client Tevez. After Tevez allegedly refused to come on as a Manchester City substitute in a Champions League match against Bayern Munich in September 2011, Edu and Joorabchian held talks in London about a possible €20 million deal. Edu also travelled to meet Patrick Vieira, then-football development executive at City. In the end, after a significant fine and lengthy exile, Tevez chose to remain in England. Nevertheless, Corinthians built an impressive team, featuring a number of known Joorabchian associates, such as future Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho. With Tite back at the helm, Corinthians won the 2011 Brazilian title. When they beat Boca Juniors the following June to win the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent to the Champions League, Joorabchian was present in the corporate seats. Later that year, they completed a historic treble by beating Chelsea 1-0 in the Club World Cup Final. As Edu stepped on to the pitch in Yokohama, Japan to join the trophy celebrations, Joorabchian is believed to again have been watching from the stands. All the while, Joorabchian was becoming a pervasive and powerful figure across world football — including England. With Wenger’s Arsenal still unwilling to do business, his London outpost was Chelsea. The likes of Ramires, Oscar, Lucas Piazon and a certain David Luiz all wound up at Stamford Bridge, thanks to the work of Joorabchian and Brazilian business partner Giuliano Bertolucci. Joorabchian is keen to point out that, unlike Bertolucci, he is not a football agent. He styles himself as an intermediary rather than a player representative. “I’m not a football agent and I don’t practise as an agent”, he told The Guardian in 2008. “I think the agency business is very different … We also have a business that advises players on their rights. We advise them on their image, on their financial stability, we advise them on every aspect, because a lot of agents are not professional to do that. A lot of agents work for us and basically they just do the player transfer. We provide the structure, and for that they work for us”. Joorabchian found himself at the heart of London’s burgeoning Brazilian football community. His wife Tatiana is Brazilian, and his relationships with his clientele became social as well as professional. However, when Chelsea faced Corinthians in that Club World Cup Final, Piazon was in little doubt as to who Joorabchian would be cheering on. “He is a Corinthians fanatic,” he told Trivela. “His two teams are Corinthians and Arsenal. If we play against Arsenal, he doesn’t support us.” Joorabchian and Edu’s relationship was not always straightforward. Not every player deal born of it was deemed a success. In 2013, Corinthians consented to sign Joorabchian client Alexandre Pato from AC Milan for €15 million. His reported €45,000 a week wages made him one of the club’s highest earners. However, the move became an unmitigated disaster. His salary and attitude put him at odds with team-mates, and the nadir arrived when he missed the decisive penalty when a Brazilian cup quarter-final against Gremio went to a shootout. With the club’s place in the competition at stake, Pato went for a tame Panenka which barely got off the ground. Brazil international goalkeeper Dida fell to his side to make the simplest of saves. The incident was somehow emblematic of Pato’s perceived failings: a lackadaisical attitude and a preference for style over substance. Soon after, around a hundred Corinthians ultras stormed the training ground, reportedly brandishing crowbars and singing songs about breaking Pato’s legs. It’s a deal Corinthians fans have since dubbed the worst in their history. Edu himself admitted the deal had been a spectacular failure: “We were all happy when he arrived – even the media was cheerful, I remind you. But he didn’t have the guts that our supporters demand of any player signed by Corinthians. It’s not that he should have been mean on the pitch, but to have a little bit of knife between his teeth; to think, ‘If I’m not doing well technically today I’ll do it in another way, I’ll use my strength’.” Corinthians were ultimately so desperate to get rid of Pato that Edu agreed to pay half his salary for the duration of a two-year loan with neighbours and rivals Sao Paulo. When that expired at the end of 2015, it looked as if Pato might have to return to Corinthians. However, another loan club was hurriedly secured for the next six months. Arsenal were linked in the press, but Wenger flatly denied the rumours. Where could Pato possibly go? Chelsea, of course. He joined Joorabchian’s Brazilian contingent at Stamford Bridge, starting only once and making two total appearances, before moving on to Spain and then China. In March, he rejoined Sao Paulo. China was a powerful new market for Joorabchian. Just two days before Pato moved to London, a £25 million deal took Ramires from Chelsea to Jiangsu Suning. In the same month, four players left freshly-crowned Brazilian champions Corinthians for Chinese football. Roberto de Andrade, Corinthians’ president, lamented that “the Chinese clubs don’t even know my name”. One suspects the Chinese buyers may well have been more familiar with those of Edu and Joorabchian. In June 2016, months after making Corinthians champions again, Tite left for Brazil’s national team and took Edu with him. The former midfielder spent the best part of three years with Brazil until Arsenal’s head of football Raul Sanllehi began negotiations with Joorabchian — now representing Edu — to bring him back to the club he played for from 2001-05, including the Invincibles season. During this past summer’s transfer window, Joorabchian took the unusual step of speaking out about the club he has supported since his childhood in London. Asked to comment on the Arsenal ownership situation, he said: “I feel for those guys who have just come in. They have incredible, knowledgeable people there. “(Unai) Emery is a fantastic coach who has worked at Sevilla and at Paris Saint-Germain, Raul (Sanllehi) has been at Barcelona, and Edu has been at Brazil. I think finally in the backroom staff, they have people who really understand football and are football people, the question is whether or not the finances will be made available.” Ultimately, money was made available to spend — and a chunk of it went on signing David Luiz, a Joorabchian client. The deal to sign the Brazil defender came about in somewhat strange circumstances. In January, with his Chelsea contract just a few months from expiring, Luiz was frustrated at only being offered a one-year extension. However, once Chelsea were placed under a two-window transfer embargo by FIFA, the club relented, and in May he signed a new contract believed to run until 2021. Barely three months later, Luiz was so keen to leave for Arsenal that he reportedly refused to train. Around this time, Arsenal were being publicly linked with a bid for another Joorabchian client, Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho. Romain Molina, a journalist who has written a book about Emery, was moved to say: “Kia is behind the arrival of Edu at Arsenal, so the interests of the club will follow his own, as usual. “To allow Kia to bring back the sporting director brings many risks — ask QPR, Reading (both have signed several Joorabchian clients), Corinthians. It remains to be seen whether Edu remains ‘independent’ in his choices. The past shows that Kia, Pini (Zahavi) and family have the last word.” Arsenal have no such concerns and are happy that they and Edu maintain full control of such decisions. In the end, Luiz joined Arsenal on a long-term contract. It was the third time he had changed clubs on a deadline day in his last four moves. Joorabchian is once more a familiar face at the Emirates — only this time, he’s welcome in the directors’ box as well as the corporate seats. Sanllehi has shown himself to be amenable to working with ‘super-agents’ — or the less catchy ‘super-intermediaries’, if Joorabchian prefers. This is already opening up new markets for Arsenal. In the summer, Arsenal signed two Brazilians, Luiz and teenage forward Gabriel Martinelli. One imagines they won’t be the last. With Edu at the helm and Joorabchian in the background, there’s every possibility Arsenal could displace Chelsea as the destination of choice for South American footballers in London. Perhaps Joorabchian might also help Arsenal offload some of their unwanted players. Historically, they have been poor sellers, but his contacts in China and elsewhere could provide a lucrative exit route for those deemed surplus to requirements. Joorabchian maintains an interest in Corinthians — just a few weeks ago, he was linked with a deal to broker a partnership between Corinthians and Ferroviaria, a smaller club in Sao Paulo state. However, his focus may now be shifting to London. For a long time, Wenger’s Arsenal were uncomfortable embracing some of the realities of the modern market. However, this is a new era. Sanllehi has willingly struck this Faustian pact. Arsenal have opened the door to the man who helped bring Corinthians unprecedented success and disastrous failure. Hiring Edu meant welcoming Joorabchian into the Arsenal fold. For better or worse, the club may never be quite the same again.

J'aime bien le Tollington pas très loin du stade https://tollingtonarms-holloway.co.uk/ sinon tu peux aller au Gunners https://m.facebook.com/pages/The-Gunners-Pub/132282800152841 et tu passera devant Highbury si tu viens depuis l'Emirates

J'ai regardé le match, il faut relativiser quand-même, c'était contre Gibraltar et il n'était pas si bon que ça, il a fait le job sans plus. Je trouve même qu'il a trop chercher à marquer son goal, beaucoup de tirs, au lieu de faire la passe qui aurait pu amener plus de danger.

Faudra m'expliquer comment Milan pourrait mettre les 30/40/50mio qu'on espère toucher pour Xhaka et payer son salaire (6mio annuel) alors qu'ils sont dans une m**** pas possible financièrement. J'espère que ça se fera mais j'y crois pas un instant. Ou alors un prêt éventuellement.

Quand tu vois qu'on a que deux points d'avance sur le 13ème et trois sur le 15ème on peut même finir plus loin que ça! Tout en sachant qu'on a un moins bon goal average que des équipes redoutables comme Bournemouth ou les Spurs.

Je sais pas ce que tu entends par grand coach mais de toute manière je vois pas quel coach plus avec un nom plus ronflant qu'Allegri ou Mou (je dis pas qu'ils sont là solution hein) viendrait chez nous en fin de saison. On a pas besoin d'un grand coach mais d'un coach qui comprend Arsenal et qui connaît un peu la PL.

https://m.20min.ch/ro/sports/football/story/xhaka---le-chapitre-arsenal-n-est-pas-termine--24635502

Il est resté calme Kola le warrior p***** !

J'ose pas parler de Blanc non plus car j'ai l'impression qu'il est mal vu en France mais pour moi ça se tente.

Excellent article sur Saliba que je vous partage (pris depuis The Athletic) Cold blooded, ambitious on the ball and already learning English – William Saliba will be worth the wait for Arsenal Par James McNicholas Il y a 7h 34 The full-time whistle blows. William Saliba clenches his fist and turns to embrace two of his team-mates. Both men are more than a decade older but it is Saliba’s arms that envelop them, his battle cry that roars in their ears. This, it is clear, is not an ordinary 18-year-old. Saint-Etienne have beaten Monaco by a goal to nil. Their opponent’s star striker, Wissam Ben Yedder, came into the game on a run of nine goals in eight games. And then he ran into Saliba, who calmly secured a third clean sheet in four Ligue 1 appearances. Throughout the match, there’s a serenity to the way Saliba casually mops up danger. Bernard Diomede, the former Liverpool winger who coached Saliba for France under-20s, has remarked on the centre-half’s “cold blood”. On the field he is impassive, impassable. And yet, in the dressing room after the game, it is Saliba who leads the celebrations. It’s he who beats out the rhythm of their victory songs, re-purposing a massage table as a drum-kit. After the poise, the party. The combination of coolness and passion, of ice and fire, is at the heart of Saliba’s identity. It is serving him well. In the old mining town of Saint-Etienne, Arsenal may have struck gold. “Bondy is a well for footballers,” says Saliba, the latest in a formidable list of sporting personalities to have been pulled out of the region and into stardom. “There must be something magic in the water.” This particular nook of the Parisian outskirts has a borderline supernatural capacity to produce players. Aside from Saliba, jet-heeled Jonathan Ikone, now at Lille, and World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe were also spotted here. From the raw materials mined in this neglected neighbourhood, great careers have been forged. Technically, Bondy forms part of the wider Parisian region known as the Ile-de-France. To most, it is just another of the city’s northern banlieues: suburban outposts infamous for a lack of opportunity and a surplus of social unrest. Here, the luminosity of the City of Light is but a distant glow. And in this multi-cultural melting pot, one religion unites: football. There are currently 30,000 registered coaches in the Parisian banlieues, overseeing almost a quarter of a million aspiring footballers. In regions where unemployment among younger residents been as high as 40 per cent, the opportunity to play is perennial. It’s an area more populous than Portugal, now plagued by scouts sifting for gold in the backstreets. And it’s here that France’s World Cup-winning team found its identity: with Paul Pogba of Lagny-Sur-Marne, N’Golo Kanté of Suresnes, and Mbappe of Bondy. Despite a three-year age gap, Mbappe and Saliba’s stories have plenty in common. They attended the same primary school and when Saliba started playing football aged six, it was with the AS Bondy team coached by Mbappe’s father, Wilfrid. Saliba is still an occasional caller at the Mbappe family home. “He taught me everything”, he told Le Populaire. “If I’m here today, it’s thanks to him.” Back then, Mbappe and the younger Saliba both dreamt of being match-winners. In his youth, Saliba alternated between playing either in attacking midfield or up front. In doing so, he honed the close control that separates him from many other centre-halves. Although AS Bondy had access to an astroturf pitch, it was not unusual for their teams to be made to train on the neighbouring dirt field. On that dusty, uneven surface, champions are made. A growth spurt saw him redeployed as a defensive midfielder and he began to catch the eye of several professional clubs. Tonnio Ricardio, one of the youth coaches at AS Bondy, told France Bleu: “William was ahead in his body type. He was a little clumsy in his movements because of his size but, technically, he wasn’t bad at all. At the time, our under-13 team outclassed our under-15s. As a defensive midfielder, William was very strong in the duels, recovered many balls and broke the lines. He was always looking forward.” It’s here that Mbappe and Saliba’s stories diverge. While the former was recruited to the illustrious Clairefontaine academy, Saliba failed to make the grade in trials with PSG, Auxerre and Bordeaux. Instead, he remained in his home city of Seine-Saint-Denis, joining local side FC Montfermeil at age 12. Perhaps Saliba might never have fulfilled his potential were it not for a fateful positional switch to centre-half. Suddenly, his power and technique was cast in a new light. Fabio Frasconi had coached Saliba for two seasons at AS Bondy but was staggered by the transformation: “[Montfermeil] is where he exploded for two seasons. Once settled in central defence, he became monstrous. Even when he was pressed by three players, he was never afraid. And if it went bad for his team, he went into attack where he’d create a huge mess, scoring or causing a penalty.” Coach Abdelaziz Kaddour, who pioneered the positional switch, knew he had something special. Even then there were signs of the force of personality that would later mark Saliba out as a natural leader. Kaddour told 20 Minutes, “Aside from his footballing qualities, he already had a lot of charisma for a young player of 13 who was playing in the under-15s. In the dressing room, he was a force and he would say the right things. He looked everyone in the eyes.” Kaddour was another mentor for Saliba, even going so far as to turn up at his home to ensure he was as diligent about his academic studies as his football. The coach wanted to be certain Saliba was prepared for a life outside of football, just in case the call never came. Saliba did improve his grades but it became increasingly clear his future lay in football. It was at Montfermeil that Saint-Etienne scout Ludovic Paradinas first noticed the young defender. Paradinas had already found Jonathan Bamba and Arnaud Nordin, and was struck by Saliba’s unusually high skill-level for a centre-half. Troyes contested his signature but the long-standing partnership between Montfermeil and Saint-Etienne edged them out. Saliba was 13 and already marking 15-year-olds out of games. He was ready for the next step. It is customary that the Saint-Etienne academy players live at the training ground complex. What’s unusual about Saliba is that once he stepped up to the first team, he stayed there. At the end of his breakout 2018-19 season, training centre director Philippe Guillemet confirmed to Le Parisien: “He is still there. He is peaceful. He wanted to stay in the centre to be quiet, to recover well. No travelling. He’s a little dad to the youngest. Everyone loves it. He gives them advice.” Saliba, it seems, saw no reason to move. In St. Stephen’s city, the boy from the banlieues had found something like home. It was during the 2016-17 season that Saint-Etienne’s fans first began to hear about a towering teenage centre-half destined for the first team. Saliba played 26 games as the academy side won their division, beating fierce rivals Lyon twice. The following year, he racked up 34 appearances across the under-17s and under-19s, also appearing for the reserves. In May 2018, his progress was rewarded with a first professional contract. He was barely 17, yet just four months later, he was making his Ligue 1 debut. The then Saint-Etienne manager, Jean-Louis Gasset, was a catalyst in Saliba’s development. Having spent the vast majority of his career working as an assistant, Gasset took the reigns in December 2017 — his first managerial job in the French top flight since 1999. Gasset stabilised the team in his first season before setting about a search for new blood. Loic Perrin’s defensive partnership with Neven Subotic was ailing, and many pundits thought the experienced centre-half was finished. However, following a recommendation from under-19 coach Razik Nedder, Saliba was identified as someone who could support the ageing yet iconic Perrin. And so it was that Saliba made his full debut on September 25, 2018, against Toulouse. There were some nerves but fortunately he had experienced team-mates to call upon for support. Saliba told the website of LFP, France’s governing body: “In my first match, Yann M’Vila told me not to hesitate to put the ball to him when I was in trouble, even if he was under pressure. They made me all comfortable. It was the ideal way to be thrown in at the deep end.” By the end of February, Saliba had become a permanent fixture in the senior group. As with any young defender, there were growing pains. Earlier this year, Arsene Wenger admitted, “You pay for the education of young players with points. If I play a 20-year old centre-back, I know he’ll cost me points during the season and I have to stand up for that. A less-talented 28-year-old would cost me less points. However, by 23 or 24 you have a player.” Gasset understood as much, and kept faith with his protege. “Even when I was doing poorly, because of my youth and inexperience, he continued to play me,” Saliba explained. “It is thanks to him that I was able to have this progression.” Between games, Gasset would work with Saliba on his marking and positional sense, encouraging him to study video tapes of Thiago Silva and Raphael Varane. He also helped shape Saliba off the pitch. “He taught me to be a man,” the centre-half surmises. Not that he was lacking in maturity. Centre-half Perrin illustrated Saliba’s preternatural assurance in an interview with L’Equipe, saying: “When he arrived in the dressing room of the pros, he was reserved, but now he’s started joking about with us. On May 2, we celebrated the under-19s winning the [Coupe] Gambardella and before joining them William said in a serious tone, ‘Come on, let’s celebrate the kids’ achievement.’ It was funny because only recently, he was playing for them.” Saliba’s form rewarded him with a new contract, and Saint-Etienne with European qualification. He was also called up for French under-20 World Cup squad last summer, but a problem with his abductor muscle prevented him taking part. Injury may have kept Saliba from the international stage but it hadn’t prevented him from appearing on the radar of some of Europe’s biggest clubs. Having borrowed €25 million between 2017 and 2019, Saint-Etienne needed to generate funds. Even with European football, selling Saliba became inevitable: his new contract was more a way of ensuring they extracted maximum value than any realistic attempt to keep the player at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. Arsenal led the charge, having watched Saliba extensively in the second half of last season. Crucially, they were prepared to meet Saint-Etienne’s principal condition: that Saliba remained on loan for the duration of the 2019-20 campaign. In 2014, Saint-Etienne had sold a 19-year-old Kurt Zouma to Chelsea for £12 million (excluding bonuses). They rated Saliba significantly higher, and with inflation in the market, settled on an asking price of £26 million. Arsenal were Saliba’s preference. Part of Wenger’s legacy is the club’s extended support in France, and Saliba had worn an Arsenal replica kit while playing futsal back in Bondy. When Saliba ran into Matteo Guendouzi at a Parisian funfair during the summer, the pair talked excitedly about the possibility of teaming up in the not-too-distant future. However, Arsenal’s serene progress stalled when a familiar rival entered the bidding: Tottenham. Arsenal’s north London neighbours made contact with both Saint-Etienne and Saliba’s agent Djibril Niang, insisting that they could offer better financial terms and a more immediate route to the first-team. Saliba could not be swayed. In the end, Arsenal’s persistence — and head of football Raul Sanllehi’s personal relationship with Saint-Etienne president Bernard Caiazzo — were enough to get the deal done. Arsenal had already missed out on another ‘Bondynois’, Mbappe, several times in his nascent career. They would not make the same mistake with Saliba. There is a curious irony about the fact that since signing for Arsenal, Saliba has become all the more important to Saint-Etienne. “He is a symbol of the club and its background,” explains Macky Diong of regional newspaper Le Progres. “He is almost the darling of the club, the one everybody loves.” Never was that more clear than after the 1-0 win against rivals Lyon in early October. It was a huge result for struggling Saint-Etienne and at full-time Saliba was pictured, megaphone in hand, leading the crowd in celebrations. This 18-year-old, already cheerleader and ringmaster in the post-match pageantry. Former coach Frasconi told Eurosport: “What I like is that even though he signed for Arsenal this summer, even though he is earning a lot of money, even though he is regularly called up to play for France, he has never changed and that is a sign of enormous maturity. Look at him after the derby: he’s the one who leads the atmosphere, who leads the victory cry. He plays like he is trying to build a long-term career with Saint-Etienne despite the fact that he’s joining the Gunners at the end of the year. He has an incredible mentality.” It was a difficult start to the season for Saint-Etienne. When Gasset stepped down from the job at the end of last term, his assistant Ghislain Printant was promoted to succeed him. A dreadful run of form saw them languishing in the relegation zone, and Printant paid with his job. Saliba, still recovering after surgery to that troublesome groin injury, could do nothing but watch on. During his rehabilitation, he spent a few days at Arsenal’s London Colney training ground. Officially, Saliba is an Arsenal player now: he is on loan at Saint-Etienne, and has even been registered in the Premier League to help him eventually qualify as a homegrown player. Arsenal were involved in the decision for Saliba to undergo surgery, and wanted to monitor his progress first-hand. For his part, the player has already begun English lessons in an attempt to accelerate his eventual adaptation. His return to fitness — along with the appointment of the veteran Claude Puel as manager — has seen Saint-Etienne return to something like their old self. Saliba’s comeback coincided with a run of three clean sheets in as many games. Steadily, they are clawing their way back up the table. Increased scrutiny has led to improved performances from Saliba. He appears determined to live up to his billing as the most expensive player in the club’s history. On the walk from the city centre north to the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne fan Baptiste says, “Last season, he was already very good. But this year, we feel that he is learning from match to match. He’s a leader right now, especially for the defence.” It’s a sentiment echoed by Puel, who told L’Equipe last week: “It’s hard to accept the fact we sold our best player, a young kid, to help fill the coffers. When you have to sell your gems to sort out the budget and then do short-term deals to fill in the gaps, you’re just being reactionary. It’s done now, and I’ve got nothing to say because it allows us to perform.” This season with Puel, one of the best defensive coaches in France, could be hugely beneficial to Saliba. Against Monaco, a suspension for captain Perrin meant Saliba playing as the most central defender in a back three. He’s already featured in a number of defensive roles. Diong explains to The Athletic, “He is currently playing in the centre of a three but he is also very comfortable in back four. He can play left centre-half, as well as right centre-half, and was even very good at right-back when he had to fill in there.” The Monaco match is played in an atmosphere that Saliba later calls “strange”. After a number of flares were set off during a match against Lyon, Saint-Etienne have been heavily sanctioned, meaning they play this game with their two legendary ‘kop’ stands empty. The stadium known as ‘The Cauldron’ is, for once, somewhat tepid. Still, there’s plenty of passion on the pitch — and notably off it, as Monaco’s Ruben Aguilar assaults a VAR monitor after his late red card. When Saliba strolls onto the field, the first thing that catches your eye isn’t his fluorescent boots or highlighted hair: it’s his sheer size. Saliba stands at 6ft 4in, and is unusually broad for one so young. There is no ‘filling out’ to do, and his power is impressive in the flesh. Unsurprisingly, he is dominant in the air. Last season, he won more than 60 per cent of his aerial duels. Only three defenders in Ligue fared better. At 5ft 9in, Ben Yedder is the sort of sprightly forward with a low centre of gravity you imagine might give him trouble. However, playing in a highly-organised Saint-Etienne team, Saliba is largely untroubled. A tall centre-half wearing No 4 at the heart of a back three may remind Arsenal fans of Per Mertesacker. However, it’s swiftly evident that Saliba has an ambition on the ball that far surpasses that of the German. In the course of the game, he sprays several long raking cross-field passes that are more reminiscent of David Luiz. When one misses the target, Saliba looks more surprised than disappointed. He doesn’t always get it right. At one point in the first half, a deft feint and side-step inside his own penalty area draws gasps of admiration, only for Saliba to attempt a risky through ball that is cut out. Saliba can play. He just needs to learn when it’s appropriate. That’s why this season will arguably be more beneficial to him that sitting on the bench at Arsenal — or worse, stepping into that chaotic defence. At Saint-Etienne, he has the time and space to learn. “He still has to improve his concentration,” observes Diong. “Sometimes, he makes positional errors.” In a back three, that occasionally naivety is less exposed. He has experienced players around him — Mathieu Debuchy, once of Arsenal, is stationed on the right flank. M’Vila’s calming presence is absent in this game but former Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye is an able deputy. Not that Saliba needs much help. It’s he who leads the defensive line, arms outstretched, encouraging those around him and admonishing them when they fail to follow his instructions. The better he plays, the more his impending departure hurts. On the walk away from the stadium, supporters lament letting him go so early. “The deal was too rushed,” says Mustapha, a season ticket holder with Saliba’s name on the back of his shirt. “From a sporting perspective, it’s a failure to sell. Economically, we can also now see that Arsenal should have paid more. It’s a pity.” A pity for Saint-Etienne, perhaps — but not for Arsenal. On this evidence, Saliba will be worth the wait. (Photo: Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images)

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