The teenage sensation joined The Gunners from ASSE for 30 million euros last summer but was loaned back to Les Verts for the season. It has been a largely frustrating campaign for the Bondy-born defender as injuries have restricted him to a handful of appearances. Saliba only returned from a metatarsal injury that had sidelined him since early November in the 1-0 Coupe de France round of 16 win at Monaco on January 28. Saliba was massively impressive that night and at Stade Louis II David Crossan of the Le Beau Jeu podcast spoke exclusively to Cabaye, formerly of Newcastle and Crystal Palace, and Debuchy, once of Newcastle and Arsenal, Saliba's future club.

Le Beau Jeu: Tell us a bit about William Saliba who is going to play in the Premier League, a league you know very well, next season. He came back from injury against Monaco and looked very impressive, so confident and so mature. I heard him speak just now too and he speaks very well…

Yohan Cabaye: Yeah, he's like a big man. He's only 18 but he's like a big man. The way he played, him and also Wesley Fofana beside him, they were both fantastic against Monaco. When you think they're only 18-19 well the future looks bright for them. I hope they will continue the same way and they will keep working and keep playing as good as they played against Monaco.

LBJ: Do you think Saliba will do well in England? He looks to have the style suited to the English game…

YC: Yeah, probably. He's strong and hopefully for him he will adapt really quickly. I think in a club like Arsenal with French players there, I think he can do well.

LBJ: Can you tell us about William Saliba, who's going to play for your old club Arsenal soon, and he was back from injury against Monaco and played really well I thought...

Mathieu Debuchy: "He's a great player. I know this guy very well and I'm so happy for him that next season he'll be playing for a big club like Arsenal. He improves every single game he plays and I think he will be a great player."

LBJ: What are his qualities that impress you most?

MD: He's strong with good technique and he's also quick. I think he has a lot of qualities to play at Arsenal.

FRIENDS REUNITED

Firm friends, Debuchy and Cabaye also played together at LOSC and Newcastle as well as for France. Cabaye joining ASSE last summer saw the pair reunited…

LBJ: From a personal point of view it's good to be playing with your great friend Yohan Cabaye again? It's almost every club now…

MD: Yes, Newcastle, with the national team also and now at Saint-Etienne. I'm so happy to play with him again. He's a good friend.

LBJ: You're back in the French game after a few years away. How are you finding it? How is it different to when you were last here?

YC: I think there have been changes and maybe it's faster than it was before. Young players start to play earlier than before also and you can play against good tactical sides. Managers have come in from abroad and they've brought some new tactical stuff and we have to adapt. I'm happy to be back in action and especially in France. Saint-Etienne is for me a very good football club, there's a very good mentality here and the players are fantastic and also to play again with my team-mate Mathieu Debuchy is amazing for me…

LBJ: And incredible fans as well, very noisy fans, probably noisier than anything you had in England actually?

YC: Yes, I think so. They're fantastic, amazing. They keep singing from the first to the last minute. They keep singing and make some noise and when we play at home it's a big, big help.

ASSE AMBITIONS WITH PLAYERS BACK FROM INJURY

When Le Beau Jeu spoke to Saint-Etienne their form was on the up. Beating Monaco made it three consecutive wins in all competitions and the return from injury of key players such as Saliba, Denis Bouanga and Romain Hamouma had strengthened the squad. Some of the good work was undone by a 3-1 loss at Metz the following weekend…

YC: I think confidence is the most important thing in football. Even when you have a great team you have to be really confident to do great stuff on the field, otherwise even a simple pass is sometimes difficult to do. But to be confident you have to work hard and try to get some positive results and that's what we're doing at the moment.

LBJ: The squad looks a lot stronger now that you've got players back from injury and there's much more depth and we could see that in the Coupe de France victory at Monaco and before that against Nîmes…

YC: Yes, you are right. We were unlucky to have a lot of players out injured and there was a lot of turnover in the team and it was difficult. Fitness wise it was tough to finish the year but now big players are coming back and that's really interesting for the second part of the season so now we're in the last eight of the Cup and then we have to play the same way and with the same mentality in the league and hopefully move a little bit forward.

LBJ: The league is so tight. I think you're only five points behind fourth place (now eight) which is where Saint-Etienne finished last year. Do you think to yourselves that if you can get on a good run you can get a good finish, even a European finish?

YC: Probably and I think apart from with PSG at the top we can compete with everyone. As I said, we have to be confident and we have to work hard and trust ourselves to play each game and try to win and get a maximum of points. Then we'll see at the end but we would like to win and get as many points as possible. We'd like to be in a good position come the end of March, the start of April, in order to finish off the league really strongly.

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