William Saliba says Arsenal summer signing is key to club winning major titles

William Saliba heaped praise on Martin Zubimendi after Arsenal’s 3-2 victory over Chelsea, saying he was confident the midfielder would ‘help a lot’ in winning major titles.

Goals from Ben White, Viktor Gyokeres and Zubimendi gave Arsenal the edge in this year’s all-London Carabao Cup semi-final in what was a compelling first leg at Stamford Bridge.

The Gunners appeared to be cruising towards the final when Gyokeres capitalised on Robert Sanchez’s fumble shortly after the break to send the away end into raptures.

However, second-half substitute Alejandro Garnacho struck either side of Zubimendi’s superb shimmy and finish in the 71st minute to ensure the Blues remain firmly in the tie at the halfway stage.

The contest will resume again on February 2 at the Emirates, where Arsenal will look to end their wretched run of four successive semi-final defeats to bed.

Manchester City are in the driving seat in this year’s other semi-final having come away from holders Newcastle with a 2-0 win, with Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki getting on the scoresheet at St James’ Park.

‘We’re happy to win. We know that it is never easy to come here and win,’ Saliba told CBS Sports shortly after Arsenal’s victory.

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‘Obviously we could have done better because I think we conceded two goals that we could have avoided.

‘But at the end, we won. We know that we have to finish the job at home.’

Asked if Mikel Arteta had a special pre-match message for Arsenal’s squad given the significance of the derby, Saliba replied: ‘To be honest, today he didn’t need to tell us that it was a derby because it was a semi-final so we knew we had to beat them if we wanted to go to the final.

‘We lost two games in the semi-finals last season so we didn’t need the boss to tell us it was a derby because we knew we had to do the job.’

Zubimendi was seemingly at the heart of everything Arsenal did in west London, once again providing an assuredness in the middle of the park that convinced Arsenal to part with £51million to sign him from Real Sociedad last summer.

‘He’s a very good player,’ Saliba said of the Spain midfielder.

‘He’s never under pressure, you can give him the ball, he can have someone on his back and he never has the pressure.

‘He’s so good for us with and without the ball and today he showed that he can score as well.

‘He’s scored too many goals this season, to be honest, for a number six!

‘So it’s good to have him and I’m sure that he will help us a lot to win some titles.’

In Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, Arsenal are widely considered to have one of the finest centre-back partnerships in world football – adulation the Frenchman does not shy away from.

‘For me, yes, we have the best partnership in the world,’ Saliba said.

‘But we have to prove it with titles, of course, because if we say we’re the best and win nothing, it means nothing.

‘So we have to win titles and at the end of the season we’ll say that we have the best partnership in the world. We have to prove it on the pitch with titles, of course.’

Saliba admitted he was ‘tired’ of finishing seasons empty-handed, reassuring fans that Arsenal’s squad ‘want to win everything’ this term.

‘We want to win everything,’ the former Saint-Etienne defender explained.

‘I think I’m tired of winning the season without anything in my pocket so now we have four competitions.

‘My pockets were empty last year and now we want to win everything: Carabao Cup, FA Cup, Premier League, Champions League.

‘Of course, it’s not easy, it’s easy to say it, so we want to prove it on the pitch and we will give everything to win every title.’

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