Sagna believes the Gunners have not punished Saliba by sending him to French Ligue 1 side Nice and insists his compatriot will make his mark at the Emirates Stadium.
Saliba was regarded as one of the brightest talents with full potential when Arsenal beat rivals to secure his signature in 2019 from St-Etienne.
He spent the 2019-2020 season in his boyhood club before joining the Gunners ahead of this campaign.
Saliba was tipped to be one of the most exciting young talents in the Premier League this season under the tutelage of head coach Mikel Arteta but it did not go as expected.
The 20-year-old could not make the competitive squad list which forced him to play with the U-23s until the January transfer window when he secured a loan move back to Ligue 1.
Speaking exclusively to Goal about whether he was surprised at how Saliba’s situation has been handled since he joined from Saint-Etienne, the former Arsenal man said: “I’m not surprised because he has joined the best league in the world. Being good in France is totally different to proving himself in the Premier League.
“I still have trust in him, I think he is a good player and he can adapt to Arsenal because I’ve seen him play many times.
“He is doing well at Nice and has probably been their best player. At that age you need to be playing. He has big potential and in France people know it.
“Sending him away is not a bad thing, it’s not a punishment. To me it’s clever to send him [on loan] rather than him being on the bench or not even being in the squad.”
“I’m watching games and maybe he needs to be a bit more aggressive,” added the 38-year-old.
“Be a leader, especially in his position. I don’t know if he speaks English. This could be a problem when you come to a new country, but you need to adapt fast, you don’t have time.
“Time is a luxury you don’t have when you come to a club like Arsenal because you have to play straight away.
“To adapt it takes months and Mikel probably saw a problem and thought ‘you need to be more aggressive, you need go out somewhere and play’.
“Then when he comes back, he will have the mentality needed for the Premier League.”
