William Saliba Reveals Arsenal's Burning Premier League Title Ambition: 'Always'

Arsenal defender William Saliba acknowledged that his team has "consistently" lacked "something crucial" during their unsuccessful title bids in recent seasons, though he expressed optimism that the club's significant summer spending would address that elusive missing element.

Saliba has been a pivotal player in Mikel Arteta's squad throughout each of their consecutive second-place finishes across the last three campaigns. An injury to the influential Frenchman derailed the first of those unsuccessful pushes, while Manchester City narrowly edged Arsenal for the championship in 2024.

Liverpool overwhelmed the Gunners in the previous campaign as an increasingly ineffective offense couldn't capitalize on the solid foundation established by the club's dominant defense.

"Naturally we've come second three consecutive years, and we understand that we consistently lack something," Saliba reflected at Tuesday's PFA ceremony. "Now it's a fresh season, we must examine what we failed to execute sufficiently to claim the title.

"We secured the opening match and naturally we aim to capture the league, and we will commit everything. We must strive to exceed our performance from the previous three seasons to claim this championship."

Saliba emphasized the club's new additions as a possible catalyst for this enhancement. "We understand that the fresh players arrived to assist us, and I'm confident they will contribute to winning some silverware," the defender observed. "Naturally we are already stronger with their presence."

Arsenal's previously reliable defender has experienced a personal decline in performance during recent months. Saliba appeared uncertain again during an opening weekend triumph over Manchester United on Sunday which saw the entire squad struggle. Once again, the Gunners needed to depend on a set-piece strike to claim three hard-fought points.

"We aim to find the net in every situation—dead balls, fast breaks, everything," Saliba explained. "We must commit fully and we understand we can triumph each time. Naturally we recognized we didn't display our finest football, but ultimately we understood it was the opening match at Old Trafford with some fresh additions from their side.

"We anticipated they would perform well, and they did. They created numerous difficulties for us but, in the end, we are pleased to claim this victory and maintain a shutout.

"We simply lack silverware," was Saliba's somewhat accepting final thought. "We perform well, we are talented, but we lack trophies, and we must capture silverware with Arsenal to become even superior."