Matthew Upson suggests £27m Arsenal player has proven him wrong

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Arsenal defender William Saliba earned praise from BBC Sport pundit Matthew Upson for one of his challenges in the Champions League win over Sevilla.

The Gunners centre-back delivered another solid performance as Mikel Arteta’s charges edged closer to the knockout stages of the competition.

Saliba barely gave the hosts a sniff all night and, the one time they managed to get through, he made amends with a crowd-rousing tackle.

The £27million man chased back and slid in to take the ball off Adria Pedrosa, who managed to squeeze through a gap in midfield and looked to threaten.

Upson suggested that Saliba proved him wrong, admitting that he didn’t expect the 22-year-old to be able to get back and make the challenge.

“It was a brilliant recovery tackle from Saliba,” he said on Radio 5 Live, via the BBC Sport website.

“I didn’t think he’d get there. It would have been a clear foul but he just got a toe on the ball.”

Saliba also dealt well with the physical threat posed by Youssef En-Nesyri as Arsenal went on to win and claim a clean sheet.

Saliba a bargain for Arsenal as Arteta continues to be vindicated for letting him develop

The Gunners opened the scoring in the 29th minute through Leandro Trossard.

Jorginho delivered an absolutely outstanding through-ball for Bukayo Saka into the box, taking six Sevilla players out in the process.

Then Saka coolly squared for Trossard to slot home from close range, a just reward for Arsenal’s dominance from the off.

The Gunners got their second in the 64th minute as Gabriel Martinelli threading the ball through for Saka to cut inside, beat his marker and curl home.

A great display from Arsenal, and Saliba was one of many who shone. Such a great player for less than £30million is a huge bargain in anyone’s book.

Credit also to Arteta for not giving in to the criticism he received for years as, instead of throwing Saliba in at the deep end, he allowed him to develop as a player out on loan.