Arteta hopeful of rewarding William Saliba with new contract
Saliba, who was loaned out for three of his first four seasons at Arsenal, will soon enter the final year of his contract
Gunners manager Mikel Arteta hopes Arsenal can find the “right moment” to reward William Saliba with a new contract.
The 22-year-old centre back has been a key part of the Arsenal defence this season, but their title charge has stuttered and they have leaked goals in his absence after he suffered a back injury against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League in March.
Saliba, who was loaned out for three of his first four seasons at Arsenal, will soon enter the final year of his contract, prompting fears that the club will have to sell the France international — rather than allow him to leave on a free transfer 12 months later — if no agreement is reached.
However Arteta, the manager, is hopeful that Edu, Arsenal’s sporting director, will be able to prevent that happening.
“We want to keep our best talent, especially the players that deserve some recognition,” he said. “I think he has been incredible since he came back from his loan period and we want to reward him, that is for sure. We will find the right moment to do that.
“Obviously Edu and the board are on top of every negotiation regarding new contracts and now we are doing everything we possibly can to do that at the right time. The communication and the relationship is super. It is about timing, I think. Nothing else.”
Saliba has missed the past seven matches and will not feature away to Newcastle United on Sunday. Arteta was not prepared to write him off for the rest of the campaign, however.
“Hopefully that’s not the case,” he said. “It’s about the healing process. Pain-wise and the things he can do now off the pitch, he’s in a good place. But we have to build that capacity to have the right impact, the right load and to be in a good condition to play for the team.”
Arsenal could be without both first-choice centre backs at St James’ Park, because Gabriel is a doubt after an ankle injury forced him off before the end of Tuesday’s 3-1 victory over Chelsea.
“He could not finish the game so that was a big sign for us. We’ll have to see how he is,” said Arteta, who may use Rob Holding and Jakub Kiwior against Newcastle, said.
Kiwior, the 23-year-old Poland defender who joined in January, started against Chelsea, with Holding coming on for Gabriel, having deputised for Saliba in recent weeks.
The Newcastle trip represents a huge test of Arsenal’s title credentials given that they drew three games before losing 4-1 away to Manchester City in the game before the win over Chelsea. If City beat Leeds United on Saturday, they will move four points clear at the top.
Arsenal will also have memories of the 2-0 defeat at St James’ Park 12 months ago, which effectively cost them fourth place and handed the final Champions League qualification spot to Tottenham Hotspur.
Arteta’s post-match rage was memorably captured by the Amazon documentary cameras. “Maybe I’ve been angrier but I haven’t expressed it like that,” he said of his rant. “I have had moments in my professional career [like that], as a player as well — defeats that I had or where I didn’t maximise what I could have done. They are still there and never go away.
“The feeling in those moments will stay with me forever. So the anger, or the passion or what you show in the moment is something, but it’s really what sticks inside.”
