“He had 64 touches, won 5 aerial duels and made 7 great clearances, he showed Sergio Ramos who is the boss”- Arsenal icon Patrick Vieira hails Arsenal’s golden 22 years old star who outshine his teammates against Sevilla last night with a very fantastic performance

5 aerials won, 7 clearances: Arteta struck gold with 22-year-old Arsenal ace who shone v Sevilla

Arsenal defender William Saliba delivered a strong display as the Gunners triumphed at Sevilla in the Champions League.

The 22-year-old Gunners ace didn’t have the best time in the draw with Chelsea, but he made up for it in the midweek European trip.

Sevilla dealt well with the physical threat of Youssef En-Nesyri and continued to impress as the hosts ended up switching to two up top.

Despite also having to deal with Mariano Diaz, the Arsenal star remained strong and reliable, with little getting past him.

It seemed like Saliba won pretty much every 50-50 challenge and every header. Indeed, his stats from the night make for good reading.

As per Whoscored, the Arsenal centre-back made an impressive seven clearances, as well as one tackle.

He also won five aerial challenges and got 64 touches, the most out of any Gunners player on the night.

William Saliba a star for Arsenal present and future

Mikel Arteta has well and truly struck gold not only when signing Saliba, but also for how he allowed him to develop as a player.

For years, some Arsenal fans were criticising the manager for not throwing the player in at the deep end.

Instead, Saliba went out on loan several times before finally making his debut a year ago.

He ended up hitting the ground running for Arsenal and became one of their most important players in their Premier League title challenge.

Indeed, there are those who say Saliba’s injury was the main reason why the Gunners didn’t manage to get over the line in the title race.

It’s baffling to think that Saliba is just 22 years old, yet he pretty much looks like the complete centre-back already.

Considering that defenders are deemed to reach their peak in their mid-to-late twenties, he’s probably nowhere near the finished product.