Football writer Alex Keble analyses William Saliba’s first three seasons with Arsenal, following the news that he has signed a new long-term contract with the club, and discusses whether he is the Premier League’s best centre-back.
Confirmation that William Saliba has committed his future to Arsenal is a significant boost for Mikel Arteta, who has tied down one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League and in Europe.
Arsenal insiders knew they had a star when they paid a reported fee of £27million for Saliba, then aged 19, in July 2019. This followed his impressive half-season of senior football with Saint-Etienne, and he returned to the French club on loan for the next campaign, 2019/20.
Another two years of being on loan in France followed, first at Nice and then at Marseille, where Saliba really impressed and was recognised for his part in their UEFA Champions League qualification with a place in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year.
Saliba’s impact and absence in 22/23 show his under-rated ability
Arsenal fans had high hopes on Saliba's return to north London for the start of the 2022/23 season, but few expected that his emergence alongside Gabriel would spark Arteta’s project into life as well as it did.
The Gunners earned 47 points from a possible 57 in the first half of the Premier League campaign and looked destined to win the title for the first time since 2003/04, before a back injury caused Saliba to miss the final two months of the season, precipitating the team's collapse.
As their hopes faded without Saliba, Arsenal were well aware he was one of the best players in the Premier League.
He has missed just five top-flight matches since then.
Watch Saliba's best moments so far with Arsenal
Gabriel and Saliba produce elite numbers
If we isolate the numbers in the years since Saliba came back from injury - 2023/24, 2024/25, and the beginning of the 2025/26 season – Arsenal’s defensive record is by far the best in the division.
Best PL defensive records 23/24 to 25/26
Stat | ARS | MCI | LIV |
Goals conceded | 65 | 83 | 87 |
---|---|---|---|
Clean sheets | 35 | 28 | 26 |
Expected Goals Against | 66.77 | 90.08 | 89.12 |
Scroll across to see the full table on mobile
Arsenal’s Premier League record with and without Saliba since his debut in 2022 reveals just how crucial he has been to creating that mean defence.
Arsenal with/without Saliba comparison
Stat | With Saliba | Without |
Played | 102 | 17 |
---|---|---|
Wins | 69 | 8 |
Draws | 21 | 5 |
Losses | 12 | 4 |
Points-per-match | 2.24 | 1.71 |
Scroll across to see the full table on mobile
These figures, of course, depend upon the relationship between Gabriel Magalhaes and Saliba, the former being the destroyer and the latter the elegant sweeper. It’s a classic partnership of grace and grit, similar in style to Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd, 2006-14) or Ricardo Carvalho and John Terry (Chelsea, 2004-10).
Right now Saliba and Gabriel are celebrated, but not quite lauded as iconic. It will take a Premier League title for that to happen.
Is Saliba the best centre-back in the Premier League?
To answer this question - and we want YOU to do so in our poll above - eight of the best centre-backs in the Premier League have been selected and comparisons made on a number of key defensive metrics.
The table below shows data for the 2024/25 campaign only, because the 2025/26 season is too small a sample size, given that some teams have had considerably more difficult fixtures than others.
On raw numbers alone, the case for Saliba is clear - he won possession (sometimes called "recoveries") more than anyone else on the list last season.
He made a competition-high seven errors leading to shots, but this partly reflects his importance in receiving the ball under pressure and playing elegantly out from the back; only Virgil van Dijk with 2,679 passes in 2024/25 completed more than Saliba's total of 2,409.
PL centre-back stats 24/25: Recoveries, passes and errors
Player | Possession won | Successful passes | Errors leading to shots |
Dias | 78 | 2,165 | 4 |
---|---|---|---|
Gabriel | 63 | 1,477 | 2 |
Guehi | 146 | 1,465 | 2 |
Konsa | 97 | 1,523 | 4 |
Milenkovic | 85 | 850 | 1 |
Romero | 90 | 1,086 | 2 |
Saliba | 154 | 2,409 | 7 |
Van Dijk | 115 | 2,679 | 4 |
Scroll across to see the full table on mobile
Van Dijk topped four categories in total, including aerial duel success and interceptions.
This suggests that the Liverpool defender is both better in the air than Saliba, while also at least as adept at reading the game. With great distribution and two Premier League titles to his name, Van Dijk might be most readers’ choice in the poll below.
PL centre-back stats 24/25: Interceptions and duels
Player | Interceptions | Aerial duel success | Duel success |
Dias | 20 | 52.1% | 54.24% |
---|---|---|---|
Gabriel | 16 | 59.1% | 61.59% |
Guehi | 28 | 53.9% | 59.15% |
Konsa | 24 | 56.7% | 68.97% |
Milenkovic | 27 | 71.6% | 70.22% |
Romero | 27 | 60.9% | 60.96% |
Saliba | 21 | 62.0% | 64.14% |
Van Dijk | 56 | 72.1% | 68.65% |
Scroll across to see the full table on mobile
Meanwhile, Saliba's team-mate Gabriel topped the charts for blocks and fewest times dribbled past.
PL centre-back stats 24/25: Blocks, dribbles against, and clean sheets
Player | Blocks | Dribbled past | Clean sheets |
Dias | 20 | 6 | 11 |
---|---|---|---|
Gabriel | 29 | 4 | 10 |
Guehi | 23 | 16 | 11 |
Konsa | 11 | 5 | 8 |
Milenkovic | 24 | 7 | 13 |
Romero | 3 | 9 | 2 |
Saliba | 15 | 7 | 12 |
Van Dijk | 16 | 9 | 14 |
Scroll across to see the full table on mobile
Tottenham Hotspur defender Cristian Romero is more aggressive and robust in the challenge, as is Nottingham Forest's powerful Nikola Milenkovic and Manchester City's Ruben Dias, but as a foil to that type of centre-back – as the yin to Gabriel’s yang – nobody matches up to Saliba.
Saliba v Van Dijk - Romero v Dias defensive stats compared
Aston Villa and England defender Ezri Konsa is similar in style, a calming presence who stitches things together on the ball while quietly cleaning up, he isn’t quite as good at getting his body on the line – or clearing the penalty area with his head.
Even returning to those in the Gabriel mould, few compare to Saliba. Milenkovic’s lack of pace means he would not be suited to a high line, which perhaps takes him out of the running, while Romero’s injury record knocks off points.
However, Dias only started 25 matches, and if he was an ever-present for Man City he could certainly be a serious competitor to Saliba.
Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi is a player who could still grow to Saliba’s level, but as with Konsa, Romero, and Milenkovic, it is difficult to compare with Saliba because their respective clubs did not perform at quite such a high level last season.
Guehi v Konsa - Milenkovic v Gabriel defensive stats compared
Guehi was dribbled past 16 times, substantially more than anyone else on the list, reflecting a vulnerability that you just don’t see from Saliba. On the other hand, Guehi is the only player who comes close to Saliba in terms of recoveries.
To an extent, it’s all in the eye of the beholder. But we should perhaps defer to the experts, and it says a lot that Alan Shearer squeezed Gabriel, Van Dijk, and Saliba into his Team of the Year for 2024/25.
Shearer’s justification for Saliba: "A rock at the heart of the meanest Premier League defence for a second season running."
That pretty much sums it up.