William Saliba says Arsenal's history, and because he used to watch them as a child, was behind his decision to snub Tottenham for the Gunners.
Arsenal confirmed the signing of the teenager on Thursday, shortly after announcing Dani Ceballos have joined on a season-long loan from Real Madrid.
Saliba, who will return to Saint-Etienne on loan for the rest of the season before linking up with his Gunners team-mates for the 2020/21 campaign, revealed his love for the north London club.
"Well, the history, the badge... since I was little, I've been watching Arsenal play in the Champions League and so on," said Saliba, when asked why he picked the Gunners over Spurs.
"And there are a lot of French players who have come through here. So that really helped me to make my mind up."
One Frenchman who was seemingly crucial to Arsenal winning the race to sign Saliba was Matteo Guendouzi.
"I spoke to Matteo," admitted Saliba. "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."
On Arsenal's new signing, Unai Emery said: "We're delighted William is joining us. Many teams wanted him but he decided he wanted to come to us and be part of our future.
"He will stay in France next season for more experience and then we look forward to him joining our group."
