Arsenal: Chelsea legend issues apology to William Saliba over past comments

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Evening Standard

·21 de enero de 2026

Arsenal: Chelsea legend issues apology to William Saliba over past comments

Marcel Desailly believes the best still to come from a “world class” player

France legend Marcel Desailly has “apologised” to William Saliba, admitting he underestimated the Arsenal star but now views him as a “world-class player”.

Saliba put on a typically classy performance on Tuesday as the Gunners cruised into the Champions League knock-out stages with a game to spare, beating Inter Milan 3-1 at San Siro.

The 24-year-old has become a fixture of Mikel Arteta’s backline in recent years, forming a particularly formidable partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes, making it easy to forget that it wasn’t always that way.

Brought to the Emirates in 2019 by then-manager Unai Emery, for a fee of around £27 million, Saliba spent three successive seasons on loan back in his native France before first breaking into Arsenal’s first-team unit in the 2022/23 season.

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I didn’t see him becoming a world-class player - that was a huge misjudgement!

Marcel Desailly

A back injury brought that debut campaign to an early halt, but in the seasons that have followed he has rarely missed a game and remains among the team’s most consistent performers.

Desailly, the former AC Milan and Chelsea defender and France captain, who won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, admitted he “never saw this level of performance coming” from his countryman, adding: “I have to apologise to William Saliba.”

"I looked at him when he first joined Arsenal and I didn’t see him becoming a world-class player - that was a huge misjudgement! He has shown leadership, consistency and he has such a high ceiling; we haven’t even seen the best of him yet.”

Desailly, 57, said he’s “so proud” of how Saliba has “cemented himself into Mikel Arteta’s system and become a crucial player for them.

“The club was desperate for leaders a few years ago, and Saliba is now part of the leadership group there. He’s helped take the Gunners to the next level and allowed them to challenge for major trophies.

He continued: “France are so lucky to have him too; they can rely on a brilliant centre-back in him at the upcoming World Cup. He’s a really valuable asset to both his club and country, and I look forward to seeing how good he can become.”

William Saliba in action for Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Saliba spoke in December of his belief that Arsenal are capable of winning an historic treble this season.

As well as advancing in Europe with an unbeaten record, the Gunners currently hold a seven-point cushion at the Premier League’s summit, an advantage in their Carabao Cup semi-final tie with Chelsea, and will be among the favourites in the FA Cup.

However, Desailly - who won the FA Cup with Chelsea, two Serie A titles with AC Milan, and lifted the Champions League trophy with two different clubs in his career - warned that “anything can happen” in a title race and reminded Arteta’s men that there is still plenty to do in the months ahead.

“The Premier League is far from over and stranger things have happened in football - that’s what makes it such an amazing game,” he told Card Player.

“Arsenal need to be careful by not becoming too distracted by the Champions League or other domestic competitions like the FA Cup. They can’t afford to lose any key games that might knock the wind out of their sails, such as their match this weekend against Manchester United.

"Being able to recover psychologically from a defeat in a big game is vitally important, but not every team can do it. We’ve seen many times in the past where a result has had a spiralling effect on a team, and they never really recover to their previous standards.

“While Arsenal have accumulated a commanding lead in the Premier League table, things can change on a weekly basis.”