‘I thought of Van Dijk’: Fitness coach heaps praise on Saliba
Fitness coach Nicolas St-Maurice has heaped praise on Arsenal defender William Saliba, likening the Frenchman to Liverpool man Virgil van Dijk.
St-Maurice’s clients also include Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, as he has gained a great reputation over the last 15 years.
The man known as ‘The Power Coach’ is renowned for improving elite athletes’ explosiveness.
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In an interview with football.london journalist Chris Wheatley, St-Maurice has likened Saliba to the Holland captain, van Dijk, whilst heaping praise on the attitude of Saliba – who is currently on loan at Marseille.
“He’s a very nice guy, very hard working,” he told Wheatley. “We worked on a number of things such as speed, power, you know he’s a big guy also and he’s strong.
“When you’re so young and you’re big and strong you aren’t as quick as the smaller guys. We worked a bit on that and he did really well.
“When I first saw him I thought of Van Dijk because of his positions of plays and he has the right potential to make it far.
“I know a lot of young players I can see that some get distracted when they come to Dubai but he was working hard and he’s got the right environment.
“William is humble. Arsenal fans are annoyed right now because he’s not at the club and he’s doing really well in Marseille but I think last season he missed some games on top of COVID. Saliba needs to play more and he will come good.
“He does not want to come to Arsenal and sit on the bench – that’s not his mentality. He wants to be playing for Arsenal. I think next season he will make a solid case for himself.”
One of the appeals of a January deal for Sevilla is that they would lose En-Nesyri for the Africa Cup of Nations.
En-Nesyri’s buy-out clause stands at around £70million though West Ham were close to signing the 24-year-old for considerably less in the summer.
Lacazette’s contract expires at the end of this season, with no speculation the Frenchman will sign a new deal at the Emirates.
