While Pablo Mari was in the middle of his protracted triple transatlantic journey to (and from and to) London to join Arsenal, William Saliba was back marshalling the Saint-Etienne defence to their first clean sheet against a top-tier opponent in months. Pertinently, their previous one had come in his previous game, prior to a metatarsal injury. Coincidence? Not for those of an Arsenal persuasion scrutinising Saliba’s every appearance before the 18-year-old arrives next summer.



Scurrying around picking up low-cost loan deals such as Mari and the anticipated arrival of Southampton’s Cedric Soares, who overtook Layvin Kurzawa as a likely full-back option to secure this January, is all well and good. Under the circumstances — it being the trickier mid-season window and Arsenal not wanting to spend much — bringing in some reasonably-priced and short-commitment defensive reinforcements makes sense.



In fact it shows a marked improvement...