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Football London
Football London
Sport
Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

'Future captain!' - Arsenal fans loved what William Saliba did after Saint-Etienne ended hoodoo

Saint-Etienne are through to their first cup final since 1982 and on loan Arsenal defender William Saliba more than played his part on and off the pitch.

The 18-year-old played the entire game as Ryad Boudebouz scored a last-minute winner to beat Rennes 2-1 in the Coupe de France semi-final.

This sparked wild scenes at the full-time whistle from players as well as supporters inside the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard stadium and despite his tender years, it was Saliba who took centre stage as he conducted the post-game celebrations.

Mikel Arteta on chasing a Champions League spot

Click here to view the celebrations lead by the teenager.

These amazing scenes brought about big responses from Arsenal supporters on Reddit .

One said: "Just wait till he gets a load of that sweet Emirates atmosphere. Jokes aside, looking forward to seeing this guy play for us. Feels like it's been forever since we signed him, with everything that's gone on at the club

Another said: "Future Arsenal captain!."

"It's surreal we already own him. He has got a bright future," the the reaction of another fan.

And this reply: "Looked insane from the stadium, quite the leader on and off the pitch!" pretty much summed up what fans were thinking.

Saliba has recently spoken about his return to his parent club in the summer, but insisted that he is fully concentrated on helping his loan club to turn around their season.

"For now, I'm 300% focused on Saint-Étienne," he told Le10 Sport. "My head isn't elsewhere

"Next year, I’ll be at Arsenal, but I still follow their results."

Meanwhile, Mathieu Debuchy is convinced Saliba will be a success when he returns to north London.

"He's a great player," the 34-year-old told the Ligue 1 podcast. "I'm so happy for him to play next season for a big club like Arsenal. He improves every game and I think he is a great player. He's strong with good technique. He's quick.

"I think he has a lot of quality to play at Arsenal."

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