There is no doubt that William Saliba is one of the hottest young defenders playing the game at the minute and the Frenchman says he came back to Arsenal to ‘win’.

To say that William Saliba has slotted seamlessly into the Arsenal starting lineup would be to state the obvious. Everybody loves him and his song regularly gets sung, not only by fans but by players in the dressing room.

Speaking in an interview with Canal+ while on international duty, Saliba was keen to re-emphasise that he agreed with Mikel Arteta’s decision to send him on loan, while also explaining that he came back to Arsenal to ‘win’.

Saliba said, “I came back here to win so it’s nice to start the season well.

“We had a very good start to the season until the match against Manchester [United], but we are still first.

“From a personal point of view, it was better for me to go on loan to play, make mistakes, learn. I came back stronger and with new ambitions.

“These experiences proved to me that football is complicated, but that you should never give up and believe in yourself.”

These echo comments he made last week when he said, “As everyone knows, I didn’t play.

“For me, it was better to go away. I’m a young player and it’s always better to play and gain experience, make errors and learn.

“If you don’t play, you can’t progress. For me, going away for a year-and-a-half was good. I came back stronger, with new ambitions.”

“He [Mikel Arteta] was happy with what I did whilst on loan,” Saliba continued. “He’s a very good coach, who really knows what he’s doing. He is clear in everything that he says.

“He has helped me integrate quickly into this system of play. Every day he gives advice to be better on the pitch.”