‘Nervy’: French national press deliver interesting verdicts on William Saliba’s display last night

By Sam Preston

French media have been rating the performance of Arsenal defender William Saliba when France drew with Croatia last night.

France have won neither of this month’s Nations League fixtures as Andrai Kramaric’s 83rd minute penalty saw them earn a 1-1 draw.

Adrien Rabiot opened the scoring seven minutes into the second half but it was not enough to earn all three points and France now sit third in their group.

Saliba played the full 90 minutes and GFFN and SportsKeeda have rated his performance on the night.

William Saliba player rating for France v Croatia

GFFN gave him a 6 out of 10 and wrote: “The recently confirmed Arsenal centre-back supplied a solid performance at the heart of the new back four.

“A couple of important and very well-timed tackles prevented Croatia from nearing the French goal, particularly in the first half.“

But SportsKeeda were not quite as complimentary with their comments, despite handing out a 6.5 out of 10: “Saliba had a few nervy moments after a mixed performance last time out, losing balance and nearly losing possession a couple of times.

“He won three of his five duels and made three tackles.“

The performance comes after Saliba said he wanted to be at Arsenal next season, and will be looking to make his first competitive appearance for them.

There may be concerns over whether he can adjust to English football, but Saliba is a full French international and Arsenal need quality at centre-back.

He has been linked with other clubs, including Atletico Madrid, but will seemingly continue at Arsenal, and the mixed reviews of his performance last night reflect the quirks of player ratings.