William Saliba joined us from Saint-Etienne on Thursday - and you can watch his first interview right here.

The French defender revealed why he chose us over Tottenham, what Matteo Guendouzi told him and why he'll be spending this season on loan in Ligue 1.

Press the 'Play' button above to watch the interview and read on for a full transcript:

William, welcome to Arsenal. How does it feel to have signed for us?

Well, first of all, it's a massive pleasure to sign for a really, really big English club. This is the biggest club in England for me, so it was an easy decision. I didn't think twice about signing here, so I'm really happy.

We know that you had a choice between us and our rivals, Tottenham. What was it about Arsenal that made you want to come here?

Well, the history, the badge... since I was little, I've been watching Arsenal play in the Champions League and so on, and there are a lot of French players who have come through here. So that really helped me to make my mind up.

You're obviously only at the start of your career, so how did you react when you heard that Arsenal were interested in signing you?

Yeah, it's always nice, but you have to keep working when you hear that a club is interested in signing you. You have to keep working; that's what I'm doing and I'm proud to be signing here.

Did you speak to any of our players about Arsenal before signing?

Yeah, I spoke to Matteo [Guendouzi]. 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.

Obviously, you'll be spending this season back at Saint-Etienne. Tell us why that was so important to you.

Well, it was important first of all because I wanted to prove myself for another year at Saint-Etienne, before I come to try and establish myself here at Arsenal. 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.