Since his arrival in January, William Saliba has put in solid performance after solid performance for Les Aiglons. Something that is demonstrated by a quick look at his stats while at the club…

Never dribbled past by an opponent with Le Gym

Adrian Ursea often focuses on "the confidence" that he brings to the whole team, even though it is something that is "difficult" to quantify. Some stats do stick out, however, and provide additional insight into the 20 year old's game. Since his first outing in red and black, in the away defeat at Brest during a dark period for the side, William Saliba has never been beaten by an opponent with the ball on the floor. A record that remains in place after the trip to Nantes.

The player on loan from Arsenal is the only player in Ligue 1 (having played at least 600 minutes) to boast such a record. For the time being, Le Gym's defender has extended his run to 1170 minutes.

In the top five for ball recoveries in L1

Saliba also appears in Ligue 1's top five for ball recoveries since 6 January, when he arrived at the club. Particularly exposed, given his role at the heart of the defence, he has won 99 balls back from his opponents' feet. In the French top flight, "Willo" is only beaten by Anthony Caci (Strasbourg, 113), Bruno Ecuele Manga (Dijon, 112) and Ngonda Muzinga (Dijon, 106).

Among his teammates, Le Gym's n°18 leads the way ahead of Hassane Kamara (79 ball recoveries) and Alexis Claude-Maurice (56).

He has also made 20 interceptions during the period, the second best total for a Nice player, behind Hassane Kamara (26).

1029 touches of the ball

Dominating in the air (22 duels won for Le Gym, the best tally in the squad since his arrival), the centre back who came through the ranks at Saint-Etienne is also a vital element of the team when they have the ball.

This can also been seen in the figures, given that in 2021, Saliba is the Aiglon with the most touches of the ball (1029) - ahead of Hassane Kamara (988) and Amine Gouiri (774) – and is the player that has made most passes (878).