William Saliba '300 Per Cent Focused on Saint-Etienne' Ahead of Arsenal Arrival

William Saliba isn't letting the prospect of joining up with his Arsenal team-mates this summer distract him from ending his time at Saint-Etienne in style.

Saliba agreed to leave the Ligue 1 club when he signed for the Gunners last summer. However, a condition of the deal involved the 18-year-old centre-back staying at Saint-Etienne on loan for the 2019/20 season.

The defender explained his mindset to Le10 Sport (h/t Football.London's Amie Wilson): "For now, I'm 300 per cent focused on Saint-Etienne. My head isn’t elsewhere. Next year, I'll be at Arsenal, but I still follow their results."

By keeping an eye on Arsenal's form and scores, Saliba will have seen how much his parent club needs him. The Gunners have conceded 34 goals through 25 matches in the Premier League this season.

There has been some improvement since former skipper Mikel Arteta became the head coach on December 26. He has installed a more intense pressing game, successfully making Arsenal harder to beat.

The north London club has shipped seven goals in as many league games on Arteta's watch. Even so, Arsenal have kept just three clean sheets in their last nine in all competitions, including a 1-0 win over Championship side Leeds United in the 2020 FA Cup third round.

What the Gunners lack is a truly athletic and aggressive presence at the heart of the back four. Fortunately, Saliba has the attributes to become a natural building block for Arteta to construct a new-look defence around:

Saliba is a natural talent, but one in need of more experience before arriving in England's top flight. Completing his loan at Saint-Etienne was the ideal way to become more battle-tested, but injuries have threatened to derail the plan.

Thigh surgery and a fractured foot have cost Saliba over three months of the campaign. Yet when he has played, Saliba has made an impact, becoming a rock at the back opponents have needed something special to get past:

Arsenal are counting on Saliba being the central piece for a necessary rebuild at the back. He can develop alongside veteran David Luiz while adding greater pace than Sokratis Papastathopoulos and superior positional sense to Shkodran Mustafi.

Arteta has also added further reinforcements after securing loan deals for right-back Cedric Soares and central defender Pablo Mari during the January transfer window. Mari, who worked with Arteta briefly at Manchester City, made an impression with Flamengo, and the Spaniard's stay can be made permanent for a cost of £8 million, per TalkSport's Sean O'Brien.

Mari and Saliba look like being Arteta's primary centre-back partnership moving forward. If they can solve Arsenal's biggest weakness the last few years, Arteta will be well on his way to making the Gunners a title contender again.