William Saliba has admitted he needs to fight if he wants to become a starter for France, accepting that he’s currently only a substitute.

William Saliba is a player of huge importance to Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal team, as evidenced throughout the last two years.

Arsenal saw an immediate upturn in their results as Saliba joined the side in 2022, pushing for the Premier League title until the centre-back’s injury derailed their season.

Saliba’s return has seen him putting in excellent displays once again, catching the eye in a number of defensive incidents and proving one of the team’s most consistent performers this season.

With France, Saliba is yet to achieve that same level of importance.

Though the 22-year-old was taken to last year’s World Cup, he only played 27 minutes of the team’s run to the final.

Since then, he’s missed a couple of international breaks through injury, finally returning to the team in September.

Though Saliba did start one of the two September games, it was the friendly against Germany, not the European Qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.

Speaking about the selection situation with the national team, Saliba made it clear he was under no illusions about his current position.

“For the moment, I am a substitute,” Saliba told Telefoot (via GFFN). “I have to fight and perform better if one day I want to start.”

With his continuing strong performances for Arsenal, including impressing in the Champions League, you’d imagine it’s only a matter of time until Saliba gets more starting opportunities in competitive games for France.

The French national team take on the Netherlands on October 13th in their first match of the upcoming international break, before playing Scotland in a friendly on October 17th.