‘He’s the real deal’: Arsenal star William Saliba gets apology from Jamie O’Hara for doubting him

Alex Young @alexwsyoung16 August 2022

Arsenal defender William Saliba is the "real deal, says former Tottenham man Jamie O'Hara who has apologised for doubting the player.

Saliba produced a man-of-the-match display in his debut, which came three years after joining the club from Saint-Etienne, as many pundits lauded his seamless integration into the Premier League side.

An own goal followed in his second goal, but Saliba was greeted by applause rather than ire from the Arsenal fans - a response which did not go unnoticed by Mikel Arteta.

O'Hara has now joined the growing chorus of Saliba fans, telling talkSPORT: "I wasn’t sure of him because he’d gone out on loan, I hadn’t seen him play loads.

"I was thinking maybe he wasn’t up to scratch to play for this team ... and I’ll apologise, I absolutely got that wrong. He is the real deal, what a signing.

"What a player he is and I know that he’s young but he could be sensational. He’s still got things to work on, like his positioning, but he looks really, really good.

"But Arsenal will concede goals, in the full-back areas you can get at them. I like Oleksandr Zinchenko but he’s not great one vs one so I think that will be an issue for them position-wise.”

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