Arsenal favourite William Saliba gives shout out to Wolves star as great feat recognised

Arsenal defender is part of an elite club in the Premier League this season, and he has acknowledged the feat as the Gunners eye Premier League glory come the end of the season.

The French centre-back has been nothing short of a revelation for Mikel Arteta’s side, forging a formidable partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes. Their combined efforts have led to a staggering 17 clean sheets in the league, leaving rivals Everton trailing with five fewer.

The Gunners’ decision to bide their time with Saliba, who they snapped up in 2019 for £27million before loaning him out to Ligue 1, is paying dividends. At just 23, Saliba’s name is now mentioned among the world’s best defenders, thanks to his unwavering presence on the pitch.

As Arsenal gear up for their crunch clashes against Manchester United and Everton, Saliba boasts a remarkable record of playing every minute of Premier League football in the 2023/24 season – which works out as a total of 3,240 minutes, excluding stoppage time.

Discussing the feat, Saliba told Arsenal’s official website: “There was another one, a centre-back at Wolves, [Max] Kilman, who has played every minute. Of course, we know we’ve got a lot of games. I’m so proud to play every single game.

“I have good team-mates who cover me to keep clean sheets, and we’re an unbelievable team who can attack. We can defend, we can suffer. I think we are the best attack and the best defence.”

Saliba, in the running for the Premier League Young Player of the Year award, is part of a formidable defensive line-up this season alongside Kilman, James Tarkowski and Joachim Andersen, with goalkeepers Bernd Leno, Jordan Pickford, and Thomas Kaminski having played every minute.

Arsenal’s title hopes are still alive, but they’ll need assistance from Manchester City’s rivals as they chase their first Premier League crown in two decades. Despite being a point behind Arsenal, City has the advantage of a game in hand.

The Gunners face a must-win scenario in all their remaining games, hoping for City to slip up. Their immediate challenge is Manchester United at Old Trafford, where they’ve suffered defeats in their last two encounters.

“We know it won’t be easy to win against them, so we have to be focused because they will be good against us,” Saliba remarked about the upcoming clash. “Last time we played them it was a tough game because they opened the scoring in the first half and, after we came back, in the second half it was 50/50.”