Arsenal continued their fine start to the new 2022/23 Premier League campaign on Saturday. The Gunners were impressive in dispatching Leicester City 4-2 at the Emirates Stadium.
Particularly impressive was new signing Gabriel Jesus. After not scoring on his debut against Crystal Palace on the first weekend of the season, the Brazilian opened his account with a double against the Foxes.
He even had chances to make it a hat-trick, but had to settle for the brace in north London. Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli got the other two goals - importantly just moments after Leicester had scored their goals to bring them back into the game.
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But while Jesus took the headlines for his goals, there was another player who got the support of the fans at the Emirates on Saturday. That player was William Saliba.
The centre-back has had to bide his time since joining the Gunners. He was a £27million signing from Saint-Etienne in the summer of 2019, but he immediately went back there on loan for the season. After half a season with Arsenal's U21s, Saliba then went to Nice for the second half of the 2020/21 season before impressing on a season-long loan at Marseille in 2021/22, winning the young player of the year award in Ligue Un.
Now he is back in north London and has starred in the first two games of the season, although he did score an own goal against Leicester on Saturday. He was picked up by the Arsenal supporters though, who chanted his name thereafter.
And that support was noted by technical director Edu. Saliba was one of Edu's first signings and he was heartened to see what the fans did for the young centre-back.
Sending a message on his official Instagram page, Edu said: "What a great atmosphere today! But I have to say how BEAUTIFUL was the support for William Saliba. WE ARE ARSENAL! Well done to the fans. Beautiful day in all sense!"
Saliba certainly has a bright future in the game. But young players will make mistakes and it's about how they react and how the fans pick them up after it. If Saturday's game is anything to go by the Arsenal supporters definitely have his back.
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