Hale End star suggests he could be Arsenal’s new William Saliba after joining first-team training

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By all accounts, Arsenal are set to sign Valencia centre-back Cristhian Mosquera to provide competition for William Saliba next season.

William Saliba played 51 matches for Arsenal last season, more than any other defender in Mikel Arteta’s squad.

Although the likes of Jurrien Timber and Ben White can both play centrally at right centre-back, Arteta didn’t have a natural replacement for the France international.

And although Saliba will still play the mainstay of Arsenal’s games, rotating the Frenchman with Mosquera could be crucial in avoiding the Gunners’ recent drop-off after Christmas.

In fact, Arsenal are set to sign Noni Madueke from Chelsea as well in the near future, another example of Andrea Berta improving the squad depth available to Arteta.

Marli Salmon says he looks up to William Saliba at Arsenal

That being said, and following Ethan Nwaneri’s new contract at Arsenal, there’s another Hale End academy talent on the rise who could enter Arteta’s defensive thinking in the years to come.

15-year-old Marli Salmon has been training with the Arsenal first-team in Spain at the start of pre-season — a testament to his rich potential.

READ MORE: Ethan Nwaneri might have picked the wrong shirt number at Arsenal after what Mikel Arteta has now told him

Salmon is a first year scholar at Arsenal who joined the academy in the under-11s stage.

A ball-playing centre-back, there’s already big hope in north London regarding the young defender’s future.

And when speaking to Arsenal’s official website, Salmon has admitted that he looks up to Saliba in the first-team, a brilliant example to follow. 

Salmon said: “I look up to William Saliba, he’s a good player. There are a lot of attributes that match up with me so I look up to him.”

William Saliba’s long-term future is still in doubt at Arsenal

Although there’s very little reason to be negative at Arsenal right now during an exceptional summer for the Gunners, Saliba’s contract situation is still looming in the background.

As things stand, Saliba has two years left on his contract, and Arsenal will want to avoid the Frenchman’s deal being wound down any further.

Arsenal want to give Saliba a new contract, but perhaps the 24-year-old is waiting to see what the Gunners do to prove their ambition in the transfer market this summer.

Arsenal signing Viktor Gyokeres could be a big statement in that regard — Bukayo Saka is in the same situation as Saliba, and he should be buoyed by such a prolific striker coming in.

There’s no suggestion that either Saliba or Saka want to leave Arsenal, far from it, but perhaps they do want to see sufficient evidence that Arteta’s side plan to disrupt Europe’s elite in the years to come.