Former junior coach says Marseille ideal for Arsenal defender Saliba | OneFootball

William Saliba's former junior coach at Bondy is backing him for success with Olympique Marseille.

The Arsenal defender has joined OM on a season-long loan with no option to buy. Saliba returns to Ligue Une after spending the second-half of last season on-loan with Nice.

Fabio Frasconi, who coached Saliba at Bondy, told Peuple Olympien via Le 10 Sport: "Regarding his choice to go to Marseille, I think it is a very good choice given that the club has big ambitions.

"We can already see it at the start of the transfer window, Marseille is very active and wants to build a young and competitive team. He who wants to win and progress, I think that OM will be able to help him to pass a course and I think that he will also bring a lot to the club."

Frasconi is adamant Saliba can handle the pressure of playing for OM. Despite his Parisian roots, Saliba's old coach is confident the young stopper will quickly win over the OM support.

He continued: "Then concerning the pressure I think he will have no problem adapting because he likes the pressure. I even want to say that the more pressure there is, the better he is. In my opinion there is no reason why it should not work."

Interestingly, along with Saliba, Bondy also helped produce PSG star Kylian Mbappe. The 20 year-old Saliba has a contract with Arsenal to 2024, though is yet to make his first team debut. He was signed by the Gunners from Saint Etienne.

The France U21 international played 22 times on-loan with Nice, scoring once.

- updated July 20