EXCLUSIVE | Marcel Desailly: ‘I officially apologise to William Saliba.’

EXCLUSIVE | Marcel Desailly: ‘I officially apologise to William Saliba.’

Get French Football News sat down with former France, Olympique Marseille, AC Milan and Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly to talk to talk about the France squad and the current issues surrounding his former club sides.

In this third of a four-part interview, he talked about how he has changed his mind about Arsenal’s William Saliba.

You mentioned the capacity for the defence to repel attacks. We spoke a couple of years ago and at that time you didn’t seem convinced about William Saliba. Has your view changed at all?

I’ve done a few recent interviews where I have said “I officially apologise to Saliba”. Because it’s true that I wasn’t convinced – when he started I wasn’t pro-Saliba. But I’m really pleased, genuinely. He has shown his ability to perform consistently and has remained clear on his job. What I mean by that is that maybe he isn’t able to bring the ball forward like Sergio Ramos could do, but he has become a very good, very consistent defender.

And today he is showing that he is one of the best defenders, perhaps better than Virgil van Dijk, who is past his peak. He is among the best right now. We need to give him four, five years in the system, without injuries. But today, with Dayot Upamecano – imagine, there are three candidates for two positions – it won’t be easy to choose: Ibrahima Konaté, who has had an average season but did a good job recently against Brazil, Upamecano and Saliba.