William Saliba believes he’s still getting back to full fitness, and he’s focusing fully on Saint-Etienne until the end of the season.

Saliba recently returned from injury, and he quickly reclaimed his spot as a nailed-on starter. The 18-year-old played the full 90 minutes in Saint-Etienne’s last five games, achieving two wins and three defeats.

It’s not quite the unbeaten streak of seven games he managed with them earlier in the season. All the same, the two wins helped Saliba’s current club make the semi-final of the Coupe De France. Plus, the player himself thinks he isn’t fully sharp just yet.

Saint-Etienne journalist Chloe Gallot of Ultimo Diez translated some quotes from Saliba’s latest press conference appearance for us.

“I am not at 100%, but I am getting there game-by-game,” Saliba said. “It is formative for me as well to go through difficult times. We must be strong mentally speaking. We are not down.

“This season, many players are getting injured, we are unlucky but it is not an excuse. We must get better, still, we have to fight against that [our bad luck].”

As for Arsenal, Saliba answered a question on his parent club. Though he admitted to following the Gunners’ results, he insists Saint-Etienne are his priority.

“For now, I am 300% focused on Saint-Etienne,” Saliba answered. “Next season, I will be at Arsenal so we will talk about them then. I am still following their results.”

Saint-Etienne certainly have some big games coming up to focus on, not least their cup semi-final against Rennes. Click here to read our last report on Saliba’s in-game performance against Montpellier.