Morning all.

Reading something from William Saliba is a rare thing but an interview with our French defender has popped up on Arsenal’s official website.

We all want to achieve something. Winning this Premier League is not easy, but when you finish twice second, you want to win. We will give everything, even more than last season, because we don’t want to finish second, third or fourth. We want to win this league and we’ll give everything.

I still believe that had Saliba not suffered an injury two seasons ago, Arsenal would have won the league. But, that’s football and injuries play a big part in a club’s season and some are much harder to deal with than others. Back then, there was no Jurrien Timber or Riccardo Calafiori to step in and ultimately Saliba’s absence hurt us badly. In some ways, bearing in mind the start Timber has had this season, perhaps we’d have earned those two extra points we needed to knock City off their perch. It’s all irrelevant now of course.

How long Martin Odegaard will be missing for is unknown. Unlike in defence, our midfield wasn’t strengthened in the summer, not in the creative department I mean. Ethan Nwaneri is in the squad but I don’t think we’ll see him start against Man City. I think Mikel Arteta will go with the same starting eleven which did well last Sunday.

Back to Saliba:

Last season we didn’t lose against them (City), so I don’t think about revenge like this, but they won the league last season and the season before. It’s more about us because the Premier League is not just against City, it’s against all the teams, so we have to be focused on ourselves because there are a lot of games.

He’s right of course although the football writers would have us all believe that this season’s title race is between Arsenal and City. There are twenty clubs in this league, not just two. I know a few can be written off as far as winning the league goes but they have teams who can beat any other on their day.

As for Saliba and Arsenal going forwards:

I didn’t know exactly if I’d be a key part but I wanted to be where I am. It wasn’t always easy at the beginning, but football is like this. You have to work, sometimes you have bad moments, sometimes you have good moments. You have to stay strong and I didn’t give up. I worked a lot, even when I was on loan, and I’ve been back here for two years and I’m so happy. I’ll keep working to become better.

I still have goals and ambition because I haven’t won anything. I’ve had some good seasons, but you need to win some trophies and that’s what I want to do with Arsenal and the national team.

Long may that remain the case too because he’s a wonderful player who is such a joy to watch. A special talent and still very young in terms of his career. As for the secret behind the partnership he’s formed with Gabriel, he sums it up quite simply by saying:

There’s no secret. I’m good, he’s good. We both speak French and we play now in our third season together. We know each other so well and it’s a pleasure to play every game with him. We grow together because he’s young as well, so it’s really good to have him by my side.

With Ben White and Jurrien Timber either side of them and David Raya behind them, Arsenal look secure at the back for the next few years. Of course there’s more to a great team than just a back five as defending starts at the front but this is about William Saliba. The previous Arsenal board might have got many many things wrong but signing the Frenchman certainly wasn’t one of them.

Catch up in the comments.