Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been warned that William Saliba still needs to improve further and will not necessarily solve their defensive issues immediately.
The Gunners signed the highly-rated defender from St. Etienne last summer, where he has remained on loan for the duration of the 2019-20 season.
Saliba will return to the Emirates Stadium this summer, where the expectation is that he will become an immediate starter - with Arteta eyeing RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano as his ideal partner.
That combination would give Arsenal a platform to build upon over the course of the coming years, with a solid foundation in front of Bernd Leno, with Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin on the flanks.
However, the Gunners have been warned not to expect too much from the young defender too quickly as he still has plenty to learn to maximise his potential.
“He is an interesting player, who has the potential to become a big player," French football expert Pierre Menes told French outlet Canal+.
"Maybe he still lacks a little bit of experience. We saw that with the penalty he gave away in the semi-final of the French Cup.
“Maybe he lacks a bit of speed, but he’s very young. He can obviously improve a lot.
"In any case, he has good positioning, a good reading of the game and, obviously, a physique that helps him a lot.”
