William Saliba has revealed that he was convinced Arsenal had already wrapped up the Premier League title as early as March this season.
Manchester City’s draw with Bournemouth on Tuesday confirmed Arsenal as league champions ahead of the final day after three successive runners-up finishes.
The Gunners led from the front for large swathes of the season, but looked like they might once again buckle under the pressure following back-to-back defeats against Bournemouth and City.
Pep Guardiola’s side had the title in their hands with six games to go, but a costly draw with Everton enabled Mikel Arteta’s side to wrestle back control and finally get over the line.
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But it appears the back-and-forth nature of the title race didn’t affect Saliba’s self-belief, with the Frenchman insisting that Arsenal’s dramatic 2-0 win over Everton in mid-march convinced him that the title was theirs.
That afternoon, it was Max Dowman’s last-minute goal that secured a huge victory for the Gunners at the Emirates, with Arsenal opening up a pivotal nine-point lead over their challengers when City dropped points against West Ham later that evening.
‘I started to feel we could do it in March,’ Saliba said. ‘After the game against Everton, it was clear to me that we would win the league.
‘It was a hard game, and we knew that we would not play in the Premier League until after the international break, so that win was so important.
‘It was a tough game, and afterwards, City dropped points against West Ham, so it was a good day for us.
‘When we came back from the national team, it was a bit hard. But we kept going, we believed in ourselves, even after the loss against City. And now we are champions.’
Arsenal now have the opportunity to round off their season in style with victory against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final next weekend.
And Saliba is confident that his side’s defensive prowess will give them more than a fighting chance against the defending champions.
‘We have the best defence this season,’ he said. ‘When you are the best, you want to play the best, so we are so happy to have attackers like this to play against us next Saturday, and I hope we will win that battle.
‘It is normal that they (PSG) are the favourites, because they won the Champions League last season, and now they are in the final again.
‘We have to fight, and if we want to change that, we need to win.’
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