*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:35, 2 February 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:28, 17 November 2024 (UTC)
Saliba began his professional career at Saint-Étienne after graduating from the club's youth academy. He represented the side during their 2018–19 campaign, who secured UEFA Europa League qualification.
Saliba joined Arsenal in July 2019 for a reported fee of £27 million. After being shipped off in three consecutive loan spells, he returned to Arsenal in 2022, and made his debut on 5 August. Saliba scored his first goal for the club shortly after, helping the Gunners to a second-place finish. The following season, he played an instrumental role in Arsenal's back line, with the club only conceding 29 goals as Saliba played every minute of their Premier League campaign.
After being capped 27 times at the youth level for France, Saliba made his senior debut for country on 3 June 2022.
Club career
Saint-Étienne
Saliba began playing football at the age of six, coached by the father of Kylian Mbappé.[11] He eventually moved south to Saint-Étienne in 2016,[12] and signed his first contract at age 17, in May 2018.[13] Saliba then made his professional debut on 25 September 2018, featuring in a 3–2 Ligue 1 win over Toulouse.[14] He made 13 starting appearances in his first season at Saint-Étienne.[15]
After signing for Arsenal, Saliba returned to Saint-Étienne on loan for the 2019–20 season.[15] He played 17 games for the club across the campaign, helping Saint-Étienne reach the 2020 Coupe de France Final; he missed the match as the loan agreement ended two weeks prior to the final, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]
Although looking to temporarily extend his loan, had Saliba featured, Arsenal reportedly would have been due to pay Saint-Étienne €2.5 million. The French club were reportedly reluctant to waive the fee and also requested full control over his training sessions. As a result, Saliba returned to Arsenal on 24 July 2020.[17]
Arsenal
On 25 July 2019, Arsenal announced that Saliba had signed a long-term contract with the club.[15] Media reported a contract duration of five years and that the transfer fee amounted to £27 million.[18] Arsenal faced competition from rivals Tottenham Hotspur to complete the deal, with both clubs meeting Saint-Étienne's valuation of the player, however, Saliba chose to join Arsenal, with the club's interest in Saliba dating back to late 2018.[19]
After spending the 2019–20 season on loan at former club Saint-Étienne, Saliba was handed the number 4 shirt upon his return to Arsenal in 2020.[20][21] His first appearance for Arsenal was in a pre-season friendly match against MK Dons on 25 August 2020.[22] He was also an unused substitute in the 2020 FA Community Shield, which Arsenal clinched by defeating Liverpool 5–4 in the penalty shootout after the match was level at 1–1 after 90 minutes.[23][24] However, he was then left out of the club's competitive squads for the 2020–21 season, leaving him only able to play for Arsenal U23s, for whom he featured in EFL Trophy games away to Gillingham and AFC Wimbledon, receiving a red card in the latter fixture.[25][26] Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta would later express "regret [over] the decision" before a January six-month loan move to France.[27]
On 4 January 2021, Saliba joined Ligue 1 club Nice on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season.[28] He returned to France after reported plans for a loan to an unnamed EFL Championship club were scrapped.[27] On 6 January 2021, he made his debut in a 2–0 loss against Brest in Ligue 1.[29] Saliba was awarded Nice's Player of the Month award for his performances throughout January.[26]
Loan to Marseille
Saliba again left Arsenal for a loan in Ligue 1 in July 2021, joining Marseille for the 2021–22 season.[30] With fellow Arsenal loanee Matteo Guendouzi, he made his competitive debut for the club when he started in a 3−2 away win against Montpellier on 8 August 2021.[31] He would make a total of 52 appearances and help the club reach the semi-finals of the inaugural Europa Conference League season, whilst also securing Champions League football for the club's following season. Saliba was named as Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year and was awarded a position in the Team of the Year.[32][33] Despite interest from Marseille and other European clubs for another season away from Arsenal, Saliba announced his desire to return to Arsenal when speaking with French football programme Téléfoot.[34]
Return to Arsenal
Ahead of the 2022–23 season, Saliba was given the number 12 shirt.[35] He made his Arsenal and Premier League debut on 5 August 2022 in an opening day fixture away to Crystal Palace.[36][37] Arsenal won the game 2−0 with Saliba's performance being described by the BBC as "unruffled and virtually faultless".[38] He scored his first goal for the club two weeks later in a win over AFC Bournemouth, with a curled shot from the edge of the box.[39] The strike was voted as the club's Goal of the Month for August.[40]
On 16 March 2023, Saliba picked up a back injury in Arsenal's Europa League match against Sporting CP, which would ultimately rule him out for the rest of the season. He had played in all of Arsenal's Premier League games up until then, and it was initially thought that he would return within a few weeks to aid in Arsenal's title run-in. His absence proved to be crucial, as Arsenal struggled defensively, and their subsequent dip in form saw them surrender their lead at the top of the table to eventual champions Manchester City.[41][42][43][44][45]
On 7 July 2023, Saliba signed a new long-term deal with the club until 2028, and was given the number 2 shirt.[46][47] In the 2023–24 season, he became the first Arsenal outfield player who played every minute (3,420) of a season for the club in the Premier League era.[48]
He received the first red card of his professional career in a 2−0 loss at the Vitality Stadium on 19 October 2024, when he was shown a straight red (Arsenal's third dismissal in their opening eight league matches of the 2024-25 season) for taking down Bournemouth striker Evanilson on the halfway line in what was controversially deemed by referee Robert Jones to be a clear goal-scoring opportunity.[49] On 4 December 2024, Saliba scored his first goal of the 2024-25 campaign, deflecting in Thomas Partey's header against Manchester United in the 2-0 victory.[50] He scored again that week against Fulham, this time in a 1-1 draw at the Craven Cottage.[51]
^"William Saliba". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
^Bisseck, Louis Paul (14 September 2021). "Arsenal regrette déjà le départ de Saliba" [Arsenal already regret Saliba's departure]. camfoot.com (in French). Retrieved 2 October 2023.
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