By Nnamdi Onyeagwara

21st Aug, 2022 | 5:05pm

Arsenal wonderkid William Saliba praised by Jamie Redknapp

Arsenal youngster William Saliba has been praised by Jamie Redknapp after his flawless performance against Bournemouth on 20 August.

The 21-year-old has had a fantastic start to the season with several impressive performances and his display against the Cherries was no different.

A goal and a clean sheet helped the youngster earn praise from the Sky Sports pundit who revealed how he has seen significant development in the Frenchman. [Football Daily]

Redknapp said: “It looks like going away has really helped him grow as a player.

“The Premier League is sometimes so unforgiving.

“But he has learned, he is strong and he is now a mature player.”

Saliba v Bournemouth

The youngster was mightily impressive against the Cherries in the Gunners’ 3-0 victory over the Premier League newboys and is starting to remind people of his undeniable talent.

Starting on the right side of the defense in between Gabriel and Ben White, he was confident on the ball, impressive defensively as well as effectively cleaning up anything in front of him.

He completed all 76 of his pass attempts against Bournemouth, a stat the Opta had as the most passes by an Arsenal defender with a 100% completion rate in a Premier League match since 2003-04. [OptaJoe]

His 100% pass completion rate was topped off by a spectacular finish in the 54th minute when Granit Xhaka touched the ball down, passed to the Frenchman and his left-footed volley bounced off the bar and into the net.

The goal was his first for the club and seemed to be the cherry on top of a fantastic afternoon for Mikel Arteta’s team, who have now won their first three games of the season for the first since 2005.

A composed and mature performance beyond his years, Saliba is beginning to make the Premier League take notice of him.

In other Arsenal news, Mikel Arteta has provided an update on Bukayo Saka’s contract situation.