Arsenal striker, Gabriel Jesus has claimed they lost out on the Premier League title last season when William Saliba got injured.
Saliba proved just how vital he is to Mikel Arteta’s set-up after his injury against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League saw him miss the final 11 games of the season.
The Frenchman was replaced by Rob Holding in the centre of defence, as the Gunners’ title charge fizzled out in the last month of the campaign.
Jesus has now spoken about Saliba’s importance to how Arsenal play.
“When he plays, we concede few goals, when he doesn’t play, the number (goals conceded) increases.
“When I got injured, Eddie replaced me very well. Then we signed Leo (Trossard). We kept the pace.
“But when Saliba got injured, it was complicated. The other defenders are good, but we were playing in a certain way. Look at the stats we concede a lot less with him,” Jesus said on the Brazilian Podcast with Paulo Filho and Tiago Damulakis.