Arsenal are reportedly closing in on a move for Saint-Etienne center back William Saliba. The 18-year-old defender has been linked with the Gunners for weeks now and has even supposedly agreed personal terms with the north London club. Complications of the potential deal, however, involve his current club’s insistence in receiving the player back on loan for the entire 2019/20 campaign. Nevertheless, it appears that an agreement between the two clubs in the region of €25-€30 million could occur shortly.

While possibly loaning out a player like Saliba, especially in arguably the club’s biggest positional need at the moment, is not ideal, this would be considered a long-term investment for Arsenal. Saliba is widely considered one of the most highly-rated teenage defenders in Europe. Tall, strong, and quick, the Saint-Etienne defender has the potential to be the total package. Recently compared to Real Madrid’s Rafael Varane, Saliba is also an intelligent reader of the game.

Statistically speaking, Saliba averaged 2.3 tackles, 2.0 interceptions, and 3.0 clearances per 90 minutes during Ligue 1 play last season. Not only does he rack up tackles, but the teen is also an intelligent tackler as well. Saliba’s 80% tackle success rate ranked higher than all of Arsenal’s current senior center backs except Sokratis (82%). Passing is yet another one of Saliba’s strengths. The France U-20 international completed 86% of his total pass attempts during league play last season, while his long-range passing numbers were also solid as well (55%).

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Though he does not appear to have many holes in his game, one interesting statistic is how he performs in the air. Overall, Saliba won 60% of his aerial duels in Ligue 1 last season. However, this is including three matches in which he was deployed as a right back. Playing out wide will almost certainly mean going up against shorter wingers. Taking into account only matches at the center back position, Saliba posted a 52% aerial win rate. Although those are not necessarily bad numbers, most 6’4” players would seemingly post a higher aerial win rate.

Understandably, there could be concerns over his lack of first team football. Saliba has managed just 19 total senior appearances with Saint-Etienne so far, with 16 of these coming in Ligue 1. This small sample size could be worrisome to some, however, there has yet to be any indication of the player being out of depth. He has shown to be a very promising prospect for both club and country up to this point.

A loan back to Saint-Etienne would seemingly not be a terrible idea under most circumstances. Gaining more experience should only benefit the player’s progression. However, the Gunners are in dire need of central defenders and could use Saliba right away. The potential loan back to France would be eased if Arsenal can secure another player at the position. This would almost certainly depend, however, on the possible sales of Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny.