As one door closes, another opens. This time, a door was closed for Benjamin Pavard, opening another for William Saliba. After Bayern’s star Pavard tested positive for Covid, a place in the French national team opened – so coach Didier Deschamps called up William Saliba, Arsenal’s centre back, who is currently on loan at Olympique de Marseille.Friday, 23.15: (1.35) France (4.90) Ivory Coast (9.50)This is the very first time that the 20-year-old defender was included in Les Bleus setup, making another step forward in his fledgling career. Aside from his abilities on the ball, Saliba has helped Marseille achieve the joint second-best defensive record in France, with only Nice (23) conceding fewer goals than Sampaoli’s side (27). He also won Marseille’s player of the month award in January.Saliba has regularly captained his country at the U-21 level in the last year and earned his promotion following a solid season with Marseille for whom he’s featured 40 times. But it wasn’t nearly as straightforward for Saliba as you’d expect. He is yet to resolve his future beyond the end of this season. 710 players in Europe’s top five divisions have attempted 50+ tackles in the league this season:◎ 56 tackles attempted◉ 45 successful tackles◎ 6x dribbled past◎ 5x fouls from tacklesWilliam Saliba has the best true tackle success rate (80.4%). pic.twitter.com/4g2mE0890V— Squawka (@Squawka) March 21, 2022 He’s due to return to Arsenal from his loan spell with the French club, but nobody knows if there would actually be a place for him at the Emirates. So, Saliba can only focus on finishing the season strongly. The former Saint-Etienne youngster, who was loaned back to both Les Verts and Nice by Arsenal, will be in contention to play in two friendlies – against Ivory Coast on Friday and South Africa next Tuesday. Both games will be played at Stade de France near Paris.France squad:Goalkeepers: Areola (West Ham), Lloris (Tottenham), Maignan (AC Milan)Defenders: Clauss (Lens), Digne (Aston Villa), L. Hernandez (Bayern Munich), T. Hernandez (AC Milan), Kimpembe (PSG), Kounde (Sevilla), Saliba (OM), Varane (Manchester United)Midfielders: Guendouzi (OM), Kante (Chelsea), Pogba (Manchester United), Rabiot (Juventus Turin), Tchouameni (Monaco)Forwards: Ben Yedder (Monaco), Giroud (Real Madrid), Coman (Bayern Munich), Diaby (Bayer Leverkusen), Griezmann (Atletico de Madrid), Mbappe (PSG), Nkunku (RB Leipzig)
