Date: 16th August 2022 at 6:00pm
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Former Tottenham man Jamie O’Hara has apologized to Arsenal defender William Saliba for his outburst on the Frenchman less than two weeks ago. 

THE LOWDOWN: UNWARRANTED COMMENTS

Jamie O’Hara had ripped into the Arsenal defender earlier this month, stating that he is not good enough to play for the Gunners and should be loaned out or sold before the end of the window.

At the time the former Spurs man made his comment, Saliba was yet to make a competitive appearance for Arsenal despite joining the Gunners in 2019 from Saint Etienne. Since then, he has played the entire duration of Arsenal’s two Premier League games so far. The 21-year-old was even voted the man of the match in his league debut at Crystal Palace.

Saliba, who spent last season at  Marseille on loan, has been one of Arsenal’s best performers so far this term and has caught the attention of many fans, football enthusiasts, and experts. It seems the performances of the Frenchman have now won the English man over.

THE LATEST: SEEN THE LIGHT

Jamie O’Hara, who was not initially convinced by defender William Saliba’s efforts at the back for Arsenal, has seen the reality now and has apologized for his hasty judgement on the young Frenchman.

The talkSPORT host said: “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 apologize, 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. But going forward”

THE VERDICT: SALIBA IS THE REAL DEAL

Saliba will continue to win more critics to his side with his composed performances every week. He has shown that he can grow into one of the league’s best with the little number of games Arsenal have played this season.

Assuming Takehiro Tomiyasu was not battling any fitness issues, we might have not seen Saliba this early and it seems it has turned out good for the Gunners as his partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes is getting more clarity with every passing game.

Undoubtedly, Saliba has grabbed that chance with both hands and he is fast becoming one of the first names in Mikel Arteta’s starting XI. There is so much to come from the Frenchman this season and Arsenal fans will get to enjoy him more.

 

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