Arsenal: 3 players who will love William Saliba

1. Hector Bellerin

Thus far, Arteta has handed Hector Bellerin a relatively considered and conservative role at right-back. With Bukayo Saka at left-back, Arteta has slanted his defence such that Bellerin tucks inside while Saka pushes into the final third, providing defensive balance across the pitch, especially against the counter-attack.

Bellerin is capable of playing this role, but he is at his best when he has the freedom to race forwards with overlapping runs, bombing towards the byline and putting crosses into the penalty area. Like every full-back in the modern game, he is at his best when playing in an attacking manner.

Arteta has been hesitant to unleash Bellerin, though some of that is due to injury. With Saliba now anchoring the backline, however, offering Arsenal a much more stable centre-back pair that can cover larger spaces, akin to Liverpool’s brilliant duo, Arteta can unleash Bellerin a little more, providing him with the license to bomb forward.

Saliba provides Arsenal with security and protection. That helps all those around him. His introduction, then, will make Arsenal better by the improvements in others, not just his presence. That is what is really exciting about Saliba.