THAT WILL DO
Arsenal confirm £27m William Saliba transfer after beating Tottenham to highly-rated defender
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ARSENAL have announced the signing of St Etienne defender William Saliba on a five-year deal.
The French centre-back will join the Gunners in a year's time as he will spend the next season on loan with the Ligue 1 side.
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Arsenal have beaten bitter rivals Tottenham to Saliba's signature, with Spurs failing to hijack their £27million deal earlier his month.
The Gunners confirmed the Frenchman's transfer just hours after unveiling Real Madrid ace Dani Ceballos, who has moved to the Emirates on a season-long loan.
Even though Saliba, 18, will only join Unai Emery's men next summer, he has already introduced himself to new fans.
He shared a bizarre video of his journey to London and Arsenal medical on Instagram.
And in another clip uploaded by the club on Twitter, he told the Gunners faithful to "keep a close eye on him" during his last year with St Etienne.
The centre-back said: "I come from Bondy. It's a place that lives and breaths football.
"It's where I found my identity, my passion, my strength.
"Everything that makes me William. So keep a close eye on me. I'm coming."
'THE HISTORY, THE BADGE...'
Meanwhile, in his first interview as an Arsenal player Saliba said he "didn't think twice about signing" for the Gunners having watched them play as a child.
He told the club's website: "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.
"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."
While Emery added: "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.
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"He will stay in France next season for more experience and then we look forward to him joining our group."
The Frenchman made his professional debut for St Etienne last season in a 3-2 win over Toulouse on September 25, 2018.
He signed his first contract at the age of 17 and has been recently called up to France's U20 side.
Arsenal confirm season-long loan transfer of Dani Ceballos from Real Madrid
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