William Saliba admits he sees Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane as a role model for his career.
The Arsenal centre-back moved to the Gunners last summer in a £27million deal but returned to Saint-Etienne to spend the entire season on loan at the French club.
Ahead of joining up with his new Arsenal teammates before next season, Saliba has revealed that he hopes to emulate compatriot Varane throughout the course of his career.
Varane moved to the Bernabeu in 2011 as a promising teenager, and has since established himself as one of the world's best centre-backs.
The France international has won three La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues and helped his nation win the World Cup in 2018.
And encouragingly for Arsenal, Saliba has explained that he is keen to achieve similar success in his career after leaving France as a teenager.
“I have always had football in me," Saliba told L'Equipe before the French Cup final.
"No matter how many people told me that I had very little chance of going pro, I never had a plan B or plan C. I stayed focused on my dream. Either we go for it or we fail.
"Now that I have made my dream of becoming a professional come true, I want to do things like Raphaël Varane, the best French defender: continue to break through levels, play for the French team and win all possible titles.
"It is for this reason that I am so disappointed not to be able to play this final. Instead I hope to attend a match with a crazy scenario and a 2-1 victory for Saint-Etienne."
Unfortunately for Saliba, Saint-Etienne were beaten 1-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in a bad-tempered French Cup final on Friday night.
The French champions took the lead after a quarter of an hour through Neymar, before Claude Puel's side were reduced to 10-men after Loic Perrin was sent off for a lunging tackle on Kylian Mbappe.
The red card prompted a brawl on the pitch before Mbappe left the pitch and was later spotted on crutches.
With a man advantage, PSG were comfortable in the second half and sealed a league and cup double despite Saint-Etienne's best efforts.
