jones wrote:
This argument is repeated so often and every time it looks more ridiculous. White came here as a 23 year old for 55m and looked insanely out of his depth at the start of the season, and while plenty criticised the decision to spend so much money on the position when you had others available - precisely Saliba - it's not like the fans drove him to suicide ffs. He got the chance to play himself out of his hole and is now looking very solid to the point that the fans "of one of the most criticised teams in the world" are saying he's a fucking bargain at 50m.
The fans that were advocating for Saliba to stay were mostly the ones who saw him play at Sainte and Nice and saw an extremely talented and mature defender for his age. If anyone would have crucified him if he made a mistake that's on them, to tar everyone with the same brush in a hypothetical scenario is arguing in bad faith.
That is not true. There is still plenty of fans still crtical of White, his price tag and the fact we bought him. Still, a good portion has somewhat come around to him. But it's because of our recent results as a team (which can also be credited to our decisions about players like Saliba and especially Guendo) and his own performance too. Best believe if the team performance wasn't as good as it is has in the recent months White would be on the leading front of players being scrutinized. Hypothetical scenario again tho. A lot of arguments are hypothetical in the sports world tho, I'm sure you made some yourself from time to time.
Also, there is still quite an age gap between White and Saliba. I don't think it's a ridiculous argument that a 19-20 year old, new to the league, with a language barrier, would possibly struggle in the Premier League. Struggle more then White has. Especially as at that time things were looking quite rough for Arsenal as a football club.
I didn' tar everyone. Especially on this forum. My argument had more to the with the most vocal Arsenal fans out there on all the different social media platforms. Those guys I don't mind tarring with any brushes.
As for Saliba, I agree - he seems like a really talented player with a lot of potential. I would love to have him in our squad next season. However, the whole story around him, his treatment and Arsenal's bad decision making around him is blown way out of proportion IMO.
EDIT: Also include fans of other clubs, pundits and other "experts" that would be all over Saliba if things went bad. Just like they were all over White, and some still are to a degree.
