William Saliba will hit the ground running when he joins up with Arsenal in the summer according to former Premier League defender Mikel Silvestre.
The Gunners parted with £27m to sign the Frenchman from Saint Etienne last summer before loaning him straight back to the Ligue 1 side.
Saliba is highly-rated in his homeland and has been tipped for big things.
Silvestre, who won several titles with Manchester United, is confident the 18-year-old can have a big influence at the Emirates.
Speaking to Bet Pennsylvania, he said: "William Saliba will start from the get-go when he joins Arsenal next season.
"He's currently playing for a struggling Saint-Etienne side, but his performances have been good and he's been consistent.
"Defensively he's strong, so he'll be looking to impress in pre-season. He'll need to adapt in that period, but he has enough time to learn from the Arsenal staff and players.
"He's still very young but has great experience from his time in Ligue 1.
"He'll continue to learn from the current centre-backs but he'll have a big part to play from day one."
Arsenal's defence has been an issue for them this season and is something Mikel Arteta will look to address in the summer.
For years the Gunners have been accused of having a soft underbelly and former player Kevin Campbell hopes Saliba will be "horrible" when he plays.
"He's got to recruit new," he said in regards to solving their defensive issues.
"Saliba's coming in, fantastic, we want Saliba in there.
"We want someone horrible at the back, probably another centre-half in there."
Arsenal have shipped 36 goals in 28 domestic games this term and it was a familiar story last season with former boss Unai Emery seeing his side concede 51 league goals.
