Arsenal wants Saliba to sign new deal
Saliba has excelled in his first season in Arsenal’s first team after a series of loan spells
Arsenal have stepped up efforts to tie down William Saliba to a new contact until 2027 after his performances this season.
The France centre back, 21, shone again in the 3-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur and will be offered a significant increase on his £40,000-a-week wage and prevent him running into the final year of his deal which expires in 2024.
This is Saliba’s first season in the first team after he returned from his loan spell at Marseille who wanted to sign him on a permanent deal in the most recent transfer window.
Arsenal began talks in the summer with Saliba, who has started all eight of Arsenal’s Premier League games this season with Ben White moving to right back to accommodate him at centre back.
When asked about the prospect of signing a new deal soon, Saliba revealed little. “Yeah, we will see. They [Arsenal and my agent] talk a little bit,” Saliba said: “When I spoke [with the Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta in the summer], he talked about my last season and he explained the project for this season.”
Saliba has excelled in his first season in Arsenal’s first team after a series of loan spells
Saliba’s relationship with Arteta and Arsenal has not been straightforward.
He joined the club from Saint-Étienne for £27 million in 2019 before returning to the French club on loan for the season. He felt that Arteta “judged me on 2½ matches” and that the Spaniard decided that he was not ready or mature enough for the team the following season, a view that was strengthened later after a leaked Snapchat video featured a naked team-mate in the dressing room.
Saliba also had loan spells at Nice and last season at Marseille, where he made 52 appearances and was named the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year and in the French top flight’s Team of the Year.
He is among three players that the club want to sign to new deals. Gabriel Martinelli, 21, is also out of contract in 2024, although the winger’s deal includes the option to extend by a year.
Arsenal are confident that Bukayo Saka, 21, will sign a new long-term contract and the winger will become one of the club’s top earners, alongside players such as Thomas Partey and Gabriel Jesus, who earn more than £150,000 a week.
Along with Saliba, Martin Odegaard has been one of the standout players for Arsenal this season. But Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, has revealed that he was close to signing the midfielder when in charge of Borussia Dortmund.
Klopp admitted he was too nice when trying to sign Odegaard, who was 15 years old at the time. “Maybe I was too honest,” Klopp told TV 2 in Norway. “I told him that he was still a boy, that he was still going to school, all these things. We wanted to create an environment where he could grow and develop.”
