A week is a long time in football, let alone a month, and Arsenal are proof of that.
This time last month, the narrative around Mikel Arteta's side was dismal, to say the least; three losses on the bounce saw people writing them off for the Premier League title race just a week into the new year – talk about reactionary.
Yet, following Sunday's terrific win over Liverpool, the north Londoners are suddenly back in the title race, although another narrative seems to have taken hold: something about celebrations?
Regardless of where the Gunners finish the season, they're clearly a great team, and one of the most significant reasons is the defensive partnership of William Saliba and Gabriel, and Hale End might just have a clone of the former already.
William Saliba's Arsenal record
Saliba's journey to the Premier League wasn't the most straightforward, as despite being signed by Arsenal in the summer of 2019, he didn't make his first appearance in the competition until August 5th 2022 – a game he started and won 2-0.
The Frenchman would spend three seasons on loan in Ligue 1, playing for AS Saint-Étienne, OGC Nice, and then finally Olympique Marseille, where he made a massive impression and won Ligue 1's Young Player of the Year award.
However, since making his way into the Arsenal team at the start of the 2022/23 season, he has never looked out of place and has since made a strong case for being the best defender in the country.
In all, he has made 50 Premier League appearances for the Gunners, in which he has scored three goals, provided three assists, helped keep 19 clean sheets, won 60% of his 58 tackles, made 130 clearances and lost just seven games.
50
3
2
36
7
7
19
58
60%
38
130
The Bondy-born titan has made Arsenal a significantly better team, and had he not gotten injured before the run-in last season, the Premier League trophy's ribbons might already be red and white.
So, fans should be excited about the emergence of a Hale End prospect who has been likened to the Frenchman, among other quality defenders, in the past.
Why fans should be excited about Reuell Walters
The youngster in question is 19-year-old Reuell Walters, who has been with Arsenal since 2020, racking up 73 appearances across the U18, U21 and UEFA Youth League squads.
While he is yet to make a competitive first-team appearance, he joined the first team on their pre-season training camps in the USA and Germany and featured in the club's 1-1 draw with FC Nurnberg in July.
Arsenal YL
Arsenal U21
Arsenal U18
5
48
20
1
0
0
0
2
2
0.20
0.04
0.10
The teenager has also made the bench for several Premier League games this season, such as the 2-0 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion and the dramatic 4-3 away win over Luton Town, and with Arteta describing him and two other youngsters as "big prospects", he evidently has a future in the team.
However, perhaps the most encouraging sign of all comes from data analyst Ben Mattinson's claims that the young Gunner resembles Ben White when playing at right-back and a "mini-less refined Saliba" at right-centre-back.
While fans might focus on the "less refined" aspect, the fact that they are comparable at all in this early stage of Walters' development is incredibly encouraging, and should the Lambeth-born gem be allowed the same time to develop as the Frenchman was, there is no reason why he couldn't become just as refined.
Mattinson credits his "good agility", "passing ability", tackling and "good positioning" as the traits that could see him develop into a top centre-back in the future while also describing him as "a physical, ball-carrying monster who's technically sound" as reasons why he could slot in at right-back as well.
Lastly, if the opinion of a data analyst isn't enough to be swayed, Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko singled out the 19-year-old when he was asked about some up-and-comers in the academy, claiming he was "impressed" by the Englishman's strength.
Ultimately, the Gunners are already stacked in the defensive areas of the pitch and look like they could be for some time to come.
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Still, if Walters can spend a few seasons developing out on loan, they might just have the perfect replacement for Saliba, or White should either opt to leave in a few years.