Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has heaped praise on William Saliba for his leadership qualities.
Saliba made his first-team debut during the Gunners' 2-0 win against Crystal Palace earlier this month, earning the man of the match award for his stellar defensive display at Selhurst Park. The Frenchman then started last week's 4-2 victory against Leicester City, although he put the ball in his own net when trying to clear the ball away from Foxes frontman Jamie Vardy.
Still, Xhaka has taken time to hail the young centre-back, backing the 21-year-old to bounce back whilst also praising his character. "This is football," the Swiss captain told the Evening Standard when discussing Saliba's unfortunate own goal.
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"People only see the own goal but maybe, hopefully, they'll see what a game he had. This guy is 21. I think in his first game in the Premier League for Arsenal, he was unbelievable.
"You can see how… he looks like he is 30. He has discipline and big character. He is not so loud but he is a proper leader in my eyes. You can see he is amazing. He has a lot of quality and yeah, we forget the own goal because for 90 minutes he had a great, great game."
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