New Arsenal signing William Saliba has revealed how a chance encounter with Matteo Guendouzi at a Parisian funfair helped convince him to join the club.
The 18-year-old completed his protracted £27 million transfer from Saint-Etienne on Thursday and will join up with the Gunners in July next year.
Arsenal had to fight off competition to secure Saliba's signature, with arch-rivals Tottenham attempting to hijack the deal.
But Saliba says it was his compatriot Guendouzi, who only joined Arsenal as a 19-year-old last summer, who encouraged him to join him in north London.
"Yeah, I spoke to Matteo [Guendouzi]," Saliba told the club's official website.
"I even bumped into him at a funfair in Paris, and that's where I told him that Arsenal wanted to sign me!
"He gently advised me to come here and explained what it was like."
The pair will need to wait a year before reuniting again, however, with Saliba heading back to France with Les Verts for the 2019-20 campaign as part of the agreement.
But the youngster believes spending another season at his hometown club will allow him to develop in time for his move to Arsenal.
"I wanted to prove myself for another year at Saint-Etienne, before I come to try and establish myself here at Arsenal," he added.
"This is a big club, and when you come here, you need to be ready. So I'm going to try and have a great season with the club that developed me in order to be ready for Arsenal."
