08 December 2023 , 17:00
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William Saliba is making a successful career out of setting himself big targets.
And this season is no different as his ambition is to help Arsenal go one better and win the title. But Saliba’s long-term goal is to become the No.1 centre half in the world which, judging by his current progress, should be within his grasp.
It is almost hard to believe Saliba is still only 22 because he is so composed, so strong physically and it is little wonder that he grew up watching and admiring Virgil van Dijk. France centre half Saliba said: “We are all competitors. I play in one of the best teams in the world so of course my dream is to become the best defender in the world.
“I know I have a lot of work to do to improve my game but I have the right staff, the right environment to develop and so I will give everything to become one day the best centre back in the world.
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“I’ve watched great defenders down the years. Not a long time ago, I used to watch a lot of videos of Van Dijk and now I play in the same league. I’m still so impressed about him but I try to watch everyone, I try to learn from everyone and one day I become the model for others.”
Saliba is now established as a mainstay in Arsenal’s defence and has won 12 caps for France and admits that winning the Euros next summer is another big target. However, Saliba is determined that Arsenal build on last season’s title challenge and win the Premier League, although he believes the race will be tougher and more wide open this time.
Saliba said: “Because we have the experience of last season, of course we are better. Maybe we can go one better. It’s early to say that, we will take each game as it comes, then we will see at the end but we want to win every game.
Saliba in action during Arsenal's win against Luton (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)“I think it will be tighter this year because everyone is so close at the top and I think it will be harder to win it than last season. But we are ready for that. We are all competitors, we want to win everything, win as much as possible.
“It’s so intense, it’s the best league in the world and so every game is so hard to play but when you are a kid it’s always the dream to play in the Premier League so you have to enjoy it, to work hard and to develop.
“We want to win the Premier League and to go as far as possible in the Champions League. Of course but’s a real target because we play to win everything. We don’t play just to be there to make up the numbers. We want to make it.”
Saliba has his sights set on silverware this season (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)Saliba is already one of the best centre halves in the Premier League and handles physical battles because of his sheer size and power. He describes Mikel Arteta as “demanding” and a hugely positive influence on his career.
He was one of the key players who helped Arsenal top the table for so long last term and his absence coincided with the Gunners also surrendering their lead as Manchester City beat them to the title.
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It was not Arsenal bottling it in the title race. It was about Arsenal missing Saliba’s composure, defending and passing out from the back as their form and confidence fell away in the final weeks.
Arsenal are a totally different team with Saliba in their defence and the centre half says that not only did they miss him but he found it torturous to watch the final weeks of last season.
He added: “Yeah, of course - and I missed them as well. It was hard to be injured in this period of the season but sometimes it’s like this and you cannot control the injuries, but now I’m back and I’m even stronger than before.
“It is behind me now, it’s in the past and now we are focused on the future. It was so, so hard to be injured and to watch my team play in these hard moments and not be there. We were so close but now we have the chance to compete again and we will do it.”
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Saliba has been involved with Arsenal's work in the local community (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)Arsenal stars William Saliba, Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe were three of the big names backing the club’s community programme this week.
The Arsenal Hub has helped the club become pioneers with their community work which, incredibly, runs a grand total of 26 schemes.
It has everything from bowls for the older generation, football coaching for disabled kids and Saliba and Smith Rowe had a kick about and also took part in an anti-bullying session.
They are even open on Christmas Day to serve Christmas dinners and welcome in people from all over Islington, Camden and Hackney.
Saliba said: “Of course it’s important because we’ve all been younger people so it’s good to be with these kids. We enjoy it, we make them happy and so we are happy as well. It;’s good to be engaging with things like this.
“ I didn’t have the chance to meet professional footballers when I was growing up but now I’m a professional footballer if I can make happy some younger kids then I will do it without hesitation.
“Yeah, of course. He really wants this but he doesn’t need to push us because we all want to do these things and everyone in the club, all the staff, we support these things in the community.”