Arsenal defender William Saliba has been described as the "boss" of Nice's defence after playing a key role in their 1-0 win over RC Lens away from home on Saturday.
The centre-back, who originally joined Arsenal from French club Saint-Etienne back in July 2019, before returning to the club on loan for the 2019/20 season, was expected to be a key figure within Mikel Arteta's plans at the Emirates Stadium this season.
However, following his return to north London last summer, the youngster was not given a sniff of a chance to prove himself to the Spaniard, despite having arrived at the Emirates Stadium with no shortage of expectation and excitement surrounding him.
Therefore, Arsenal made the decision to send the 19-year-old back out on loan at the very start of this month's transfer window, with Ligue 1 outfit Nice landing him for the remainder of the season.
After a shaky start to his Nice career, which consisted of a yellow card inside the opening 11 minutes of his debut in a 2-0 defeat to Stade Brest, the youngster has started to show signs of promise, once again highlighting why he should have been granted an opportunity under Arteta.
On Saturday, Saliba played the full 90 minutes of Nice's 1-0 win over Lens, as Youcef Atal's second-half goal sealed their first win since Saliba's arrival.
Considering Lens are currently camped inside the top half of the table, it was an impressive victory for Nice.
Although Atal will take the credit for the victory, netting the winner four minutes into the second half, Saliba was lavished with praise by the French media on Sunday morning for his role in the win, ensuring Nice kept a clean-sheet.
Sunday's edition of L'Equipe stated: "He guides and instructs the defence, gives the impression he’s been there a long time.
"He’s just arrived but has already shown he’s the boss of the defence."
News like this will no doubt frustrate many Arsenal fans as they had high hopes that Saliba would cement himself in Arteta's plans this season after earning such fantastic reviews whilst at Saint-Etienne.
But whilst Saliba is still only young and has plenty of years ahead of him, he will be feeling that this may be his last chance to impress Arteta and force his way into his plans for the future.
Although he is only 19, Saliba has already racked up 32 senior appearances in the French top-flight in the last few seasons, providing proof that he can mix with some of the biggest names in world football.
