Arsenal: Ranking the top 3 centerback partners for William Saliba

1. Someone new

Mikel Arteta highlighted the need to get a new centerback when he picked the three positions Arsenal needed most. Once that happened, he opened up a whole world of possibility that did not end with a permanent deal for Pablo Mari.

Instead, it gave rise to links to Dayot Upamecano and a brief return to Jonathan Tah. Both of whom rank as two of the best budding centerbacks in the world of football and thus stand out as top-tier candidates to bring this defense to a whole new level alongside William Saliba.

That’s the thing—if you want it to be a truly new era, doesn’t it stand to reason that it needs to be done by actual new players? Although not every “someone new” fits the billing here. I’m thinking Jonathan Tah with a few other alternatives, but the caveat being the need to actually be on the same level.

Arsenal needs to see what Arteta can do with centerbacks he actually chooses since he’s already done such great work with centerbacks he inherited.