Arsene Wenger has already given his approval of Arsenal signing William Saliba

The Arsenal legend has previously spoken about how the suburbs of Paris are second only to Sao Paulo in his rankings of the most productive footballing environments on the planet

Arsenal fans have had to wait a long time to see William Saliba in the club’s colours.

Signed for £27 million from Saint-Etienne last summer, the young defender was loaned back to the Ligue 1 club for the duration of the 2019/20 season. His arrival at the Emirates Stadium is much anticipated, accentuated by the struggles the Gunners have experienced at the back recently.

Of course, a lot has changed at Arsenal since Saliba put pen to paper. Unai Emery is no longer at the club, with Mikel Arteta appointed as his replacement in December. The 19-year-old might, therefore, be unsure of how the new boss will view him when he does finally pitch up in North London this summer.

Arsene Wenger has, inadvertently, already given a seal of approval, of sorts. The Arsenal legend has previously spoken about how the suburbs of Paris (the banlieues) are second only to Sao Paulo in his rankings of the most productive footballing environments on the planet. Saliba hails from one of those suburbs, Bondy.

Indeed, the list of world-class players to have come from this region over the years is rather staggering. Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Kylian Mbappe, Blaise Matuidi, N’Golo Kante, Kingsley Coman, Riyad Mahrez and countless others grew up in this part of the French capital and Saliba could be next to add his name to such an esteemed group.

“All the boys want to be pro,” Sambou Tati, club president of AS Bondy, the club credited with giving a number of world-class players their start in the game, explained in an interview with ESPN. He went on to describe how Pogba refined his game at the tiny club, helping him to become the player he is today.

Mbappe also started out at AS Bondy, coached by his father Wilfried who would also coach Saliba while at Saint-Etienne. Arsenal must hope that whatever has been instilled in Mbappe from a young age is also evident in Saliba, even if the two players play in very different positions.

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The statistical signs are positive for Arsenal with regard to the young centre-back’s potential. For instance, Saliba’s pure tackle rate for the 2019/20 campaign stands at 79.17%, putting him behind only Federico Fazio (80%) and Yerry Mina (82.22%) in Europe’s top five leagues (as per Squawka). Saliba is also the only outfield player in those five leagues to have played over 900 minutes without committing a single foul from an attempted tackle. That will be music to the ears of Arsenal fans sick of individual mistakes from their team’s defenders.

While Saliba is renowned for being a very tidy operator, his hardened mentality could give Arsenal something they have lacked for a number of years. That mentality might have originally come from the 19-year-old’s upbringing. There is just something about Bondy and the surrounding areas that set future footballers on the right path.

No fewer than eight of Didier Deschamps’ 2018 World Cup-winning France squad hailed from the Parisian banlieues. The region’s track record in producing players not just with the right technical ability, but with the right mentality is proven and now Arsenal must hope that it has played its role in the cultivation of another star in Saliba.