William Saliba has already set some high standards at the beginning of his Arsenal career, although there are a couple of factors that are leading to question marks with regard to his involvement against Newcastle United on Tuesday night.
Since returning in the summer following a successful loan spell with Marseille, the 21-year-old has become a mainstay in defence for Mikel Arteta's side. Forging an impressive centre-back partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes has provided a platform for the Gunners to mount a Premier League title challenge.
Whilst there have been some hiccups with regard to Saliba's performances along the way - which is expected given his age - since a man-of-the-match display on his competitive Arsenal debut against Crystal Palace, he was excellent in wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea to justify the early season praise and excitement amongst the fanbase.
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However, it would appear that the World Cup break came at the worst possible time. Having barely featured for France in Qatar, a lack of game time has taken its toll and it's safe to say his performances during the festive period so far can be summed up in one word - 'rusty'.
He gave away a penalty against West Ham United after interrupting Jarrod Bowen's stride and then was partially at fault for Brighton & Hove Albion's second goal at the weekend, by misreading the flight of the ball which led to an uncharacteristic error from the Frenchman.
Interestingly, former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger once revealed how developing young players can be costly: "You pay for the education of young players with points," the legendary Frenchman said, as per Arseblog in 2017. "I play a young central defender of 20-years-old and I know he will cost me points in the season. I have to stand up for that.
"If I play a 28-year-old centre-back, maybe less talented, he will cost me less points, but then I will not be giving a chance to a young player. At some stage, I must say, as a manager sometimes you feel lonely to stand up there and say, 'no, I want this boy to play because he deserves it'.
"But just to deserve it, I know as well that he will make mistakes, because you learn your job at 23 years of age. 23 to 24 you have a player. Until 23 he will make up and down."
This theory certainly applies to Saliba to some degree as he has deserved his chance this season, although his errors in the last two games haven't been too costly. But should Arteta take a cautious approach against Newcastle tonight and leave the youngster out of the starting line-up?
With the Frenchman starting every single Premier League game so far this season, it seems unlikely he will drop down to the bench for such a big game. But as Saliba is a suspension risk - currently on four yellow cards - the Arsenal manager might decide to rest the 21-year-old and there are several immediate replacements staring the Spaniard in the face.
The most obvious candidate is Rob Holding as the backup right-sided centre-back. Although, not starting a single league game so far this season could work against him, thus opening the door for Arteta to potentially turn to last year's most-used central defensive pairing.
Ben White has performed wonders at right-back, but a return to the middle to partner Gabriel Magalhaes hasn't been ruled out: "We are really happy with where he is and obviously with the way William [Saliba] has been playing it makes sense for Ben to play there but that doesn't mean he cannot play as a central defender," Arteta said earlier in the season.
"We all believed he had the qualities to do that [right-back] role and the most important step, probably, was for him to believe that he could do it, to feel comfortable in that position and that this position could maximise his potential as well to give him another dimension as a player. The fact that now he can play in various positions, I think makes him a more complete player and I think he's very happy with that."
Then there's Takehiro Tomiyasu who despite operating at right-back during his first season at Arsenal, has experience in the central defensive role - albeit with the Japan national team. But once again, a lack of game time at club level in the past two months means him replacing Saliba would be a massive gamble.
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