Real Madrid have set their sights on a potential transfer for Arsenal’s star centre-back William Saliba, following his impressive development at the Emirates Stadium, reports suggest. After gaining valuable experiences through loans at Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille, Saliba has emerged as a key defender under Mikel Arteta.
Le 10 Sport write that the La Liga giants deem Saliba their main target for the upcoming summer window and have already initiated contact with his reps to discuss his interest in joining them. This interest surfaces post Real Madrid’s failure to seal a deal for Leny Yoro, who chose a £58.7million switch to Manchester United instead.
Procuring Saliba will not come cheap; Arsenal consider him indispensable and his recent contract renewal last year is evidence of his importance to the team. Saliba has shared his commitment in deciding to extend his tenure with Arsenal until 2027 though after an impactful but injury-shortened previous season.
He expressed his desire for more success, stating, “Honestly the decision was easy because I had a really good season last season, but unfortunately I didn’t finish it because of injury,” he said. “So I want more. I want to play more years for this amazing club.”
The Frenchman underscored his ambitions with Arsenal as well. “I didn’t achieve anything yet, so I want to win everything with this club,” he explained. “I think we can achieve everything. Of course, it’s easy to say this, but we have the coach, we have the character, we have the players and every year the team gets stronger.
“We have better players with a good mentality. We have a good experience from the last season as well. We know that the season is so long. So we are confident and we know we can do something good at this club,” reports the Mirror.
Saliba also emphasised the team’s improving quality and mindset for the ongoing campaign. “We have better players with a good mentality. We have a good experience from the last season as well. We know that the season is so long. So we are confident and we know we can do something good at this club.”
Arteta has expressed his satisfaction with the flourishing partnership between Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, which has been instrumental to Arsenal’s recent success. Speaking last month, he highlighted the pair’s growth, “You have to see the development day by day,” the head coach said.
“Obviously we believed they could become really good. That togetherness and chemistry is unique, it’s something that they built. It happened very organically as well. I’m very proud to have them the level they are showing is incredible.”
