Arsenal's treatment of William Saliba questioned by former star also shining in France

Arsenal's reluctance to use William Saliba since his £30million Emiraes switch has been questioned by former Gunners academy star Stephy Mavididi - now taking France by storm at Montpellier.

Mavididi spent eight years in north London as an Arsenal academy prospect before eventually calling time on his stay with the club to join Juventus, after being scouted by the brother of Giorgio Chiellini.

The striker has since moved on to Ligue 1 where he has come up against Saliba, currently on loan with Marseille.

And Mavididi has nothing but positive things to say about the 20-year-old central defender who he says simply: "How is this guy not playing at Arsenal?"

Speaking in an interview with LiveScore, the 23-year-old forward, who attracted Premier League interest from Newcastle in January, discussed Saliba and said: “That guy's a player. He's hands down one of the best defenders in the league, hands down.

"I think he'll walk back Into the Arsenal team next season. When I played against him last year I thought 'how is this guy not playing at Arsenal?'

"He's strong, good on the ball, he reads the game well.

"Sometimes you walk off the pitch and think 'fair play man, respect' - the defender has kept up with you, out tussled you, out quitted you, you have to say fair play, this guy's a good player."

Mavididi went on to claim that despite Saliba's relative inexperience and age, he is one of the best opponents he has ever battled with.

"He's one of the best centre-backs I've faced," he added. "Everyone can talk about Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Jérôme Boateng, but he's up there.

"He's the one that surprised me the most. I'm an Arsenal fan too and playing against Saliba I thought, we've got a very decent defender here."

Salib