Real Madrid have emerged as a genuine threat to snatch Arsenal centre-back William Saliba, and when the transfer would take place has been revealed after two separate sources provided updates.
Questions were repeatedly asked after Arsenal took three years before handing William Saliba his senior debut for the club.
The French centre-back was originally brought to north London in the summer of 2019. A package worth roughly £27m was agreed with Saint-Etienne – a sizeable fee for a teenager.
However, the Gunners elected to loan Saliba back to Ligue 1 on three separate occasions rather than fastrack the defender into their first-team plans.
Arsenal’s cautious approach has since proven a masterstroke, with Saliba named Ligue 1’s Young Player of the Year during his loan spell with Marseille in the 2021/22 campaign.
His exploits that season prompted Arsenal to determine he was finally ready to cement his place in Mikel Arteta’s starting eleven for the 2022/23 campaign and beyond.
Saliba has not looked back since and two years on and aged just 23, he is widely regarded as one of world football’s premier centre-halves.
Saliba has formed a rock solid and durable centre-back pairing with Gabriel Magalhaes at the heart of Arsenal’s defence, which conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League last season. Their mark of 29 goals conceded was five fewer than eventual champions Manchester City (34).
However, Saliba’s remarkable rise has not gone unnoticed over at the Bernabeu.
Real Madrid want William Saliba in 2025
There have been persistent rumblings regarding Real Madrid’s interest in Saliba for many a month. But according to two separate sources who provided updates over the weekend, Arsenal now have reason to fear.
Firstly, Spanish outlet Fichajes declared ‘Real Madrid want to sign Saliba.’
The Frenchman has been identified as the perfect player to help revitalise an ageing defence. Indeed, current centre-back Antonio Rudiger is 31, while David Alaba is even older at 32.
Carlo Ancelotti can also call upon Eder Militao, though the club did not sign a direct replacement for club stalwart Nacho who left for Saudi Arabia over the summer.
Real Madrid had shown interest in Leny Yoro and were willing to sanction a cut-price raid for the player who was in the final year of his contract at Lille.
However, Manchester United blew Los Blancos away from a financial perspective when offering both a higher transfer fee and salary.
The end result is Real Madrid are now light at centre-half and per the report, they aim to sign Saliba in the summer of 2025.
It’s acknowledged Arsenal will be heavily resistant to a sale and with good reason – Saliba is among the world’s best in his position and aged 23, his prime years should still be to come.
Saliba is contracted to Arsenal until 2027 and as such, Real Madrid would be reliant on the player having his head turned and pushing for a move if they’re to sign the defender next year.
Real Madrid take first steps with regular scouting missions
Nonetheless, Real Madrid will reportedly have cash to splash and both Fichajes and TBRFootball have confirmed they had scouts in attendance for Arsenal’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa on August 24.
Saliba produced a typically strong display on the day when helping Arsenal keep a clean sheet in the impressive 2-0 victory at Villa Park.
Aside from his customary defensive heroics, Saliba also completed 89 out of 90 passes on the day to produce a passing accuracy of 99 percent.
TBRFootball stated that scouting mission was by no means a one-off, with Real Madrid labelled ‘firm admirers’ of the centre-back.
Furthermore, the report stated Los Blancos are ‘watching him closely on a regular basis.’
Can Arsenal put Real Madrid in their place?
English heavyweights are no stranger to seeing their best players poached by Spain’s big two.
The likes of Thierry Henry, Javier Mascherano, Philippe Coutinho, Luis Suarez (all Barcelona) and Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Eden Hazard (all Real Madrid) were poached by the LaLiga giants from top English sides.
