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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Blow

Arsenal news: William Saliba's impressive stats confirmed as Gunners legends reunite

Arsenal enjoyed a great start to the new Premier League season by beating Patrick Vieira's Crystal Palace 2-0 at Selhurst Park on Friday night.

Gabriel Martinelli's first-half strike and an own goal secured the points for Mikel Areta's side. Yet it was the performance of William Saliba that really caught the eye. The France international, 21, finally made his debut for the Gunners - three years after joining the club.

Saliba was superb at the back and has dominated Arsenal headlines since. But what else has been happening? Here are the latest stories from the Emirates - including a surprise reunion between two Gunners legends in France.

Saliba's impressive debut

Saliba was so impressive against Palace it saw him compared to Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand. Saliba was highly-rated when he initially signed for the Gunners, but Arteta seemed unconvinced and he's spent several seasons back in France on loan.

His lack of experience didn't tell as the centre-half claimed the Man of the Match award with his stats highlighting his accomplished display. Arsenal kept a clean sheet at Selhurst Park as Saliba won all of his aerial duals while having a 94 per cent pass accuracy.

William Saliba helped Arsenal beat Crystal Palace (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

What did you think of William Saliba's performance on Friday night? Let us know in the comments below!

He recovered the ball seven times and made six clearances. He also ensured none of his opponents dribbled past them, despite coming up against the likes of Wilfried Zaha and Eberechi Eze. It was a great start to life in the Premier League.

Gary Neville even compared Saliba to Ferdinand. "I was massively impressed with Saliba," he said on Sky Sports. "He actually reminded me of a young Rio Ferdinand. He’s such a young defender at 21... that's a big performance from Saliba."

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Arsenal legends to reunite

It has been confirmed Aaron Ramsey will be reunited with Arsene Wenger as he begins his career with OGC Nice. Ramsey spent a decade playing under Wenger at the Gunners, winning three FA Cups in that time. He left the Emirates 12 months after Wenger's exit, departing for an ill-fated spell at Serie A giants Juventus.

His time in Turin was a difficult, with the Welshman failing to establish himself in their starting line-up. He spent the second-half of last season on loan at Rangers - winning the Scottish Cup - before Juve opted to terminate his contract earlier this summer.

Having become a free agent, Ramsey was linked with a return to the Premier League with Nottingham Forest. But instead of the newly-promoted side, the midfielder opted to move to the south of France to join Nice.

He is now preparing for the new Ligue 1 season to get underway, with Nice now under the management of former Borussia Dortmund boss Lucien Favre. And ahead of the opening day visit of RC Strasbourg, Favre is bringing in a familiar face to Ramsey.

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Shevchenko pays tribute to Zinchenko

Oleksandr Zinchenko joined Arsenal earlier this summer (AFP via Getty Images)

Andriy Shevchenko has paid tribute to Oleksandr Zinchenko for continuing to speak out against Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Shevchenko has been working with Arsenal's new signing to raise money for the war effort in their homeland. Zinchenko has spoken out several times to condemn Russia's aggression - and Shevchenko believes sport can play a role in helping to restore the peace.

He said: "Oleks has stood up, he has spoken out and expressed his very hard views against the war. He loves Ukraine and the people and we have done a lot of activities together.

"We have been involved in fundraising activities. Oleks is very generous and he is giving a lot to the Ukrainian people."

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