William Saliba is expected to sign a five-year contract extension to remain at Arsenal in the coming days, reports David Ornstein. The French defender’s current deal ran through June 2027, so both sides had time to get a deal done. At the same time, it appears that the club are trying hard to avoid having […]
William Saliba is expected to sign a five-year contract extension to remain at Arsenal in the coming days, reports David Ornstein. The French defender’s current deal ran through June 2027, so both sides had time to get a deal done. At the same time, it appears that the club are trying hard to avoid having key players enter the final year of their contract without an extension in place and are doing well in carrying out that aim.
It doesn’t seem as if there was ever much concern from the club or the player that the deal would get done. When talks opened in the spring, the updates were always positive — productive talks, moving in the right direction, confident a deal would get done, etc. There’s always a bit of worry with a player of Saliba’s quality that he’ll have his head turned, and the reports of interest from Real Madrid were there. But Andrea Berta, the contracts team, and Saliba’s representatives got things done.
The new contract will keep the defender in North London until he’s at least 29-years-old, helping to cement a contention window for the current core of Arsenal stars. Saliba’s CB partner Gabriel signed an extension in June. Young stars Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly agreed to new deals. That all those players want to stay at Arsenal is a testament to the club and the success of the rebuild under Mikel Arteta. It’s a resounding endorsement of pretty much everything the Gunners are doing, short of winning trophies (of course). But that’s why you keep the good players and why they want to stick around — to win trophies in a place they feel comfortable with and a connection to.
Arsenal have had the best defense in Europe for two years now. And both Saliba and Gabriel are still getting better. Defenders peak in their mid-to-late 20’s. Gabriel (27) is just hitting his prime and Saliba (24) isn’t there yet. The other key pieces of the roster are early-prime or pre-prime age, and the club have young talent like Nwaneri, MLS, and Max Dowman coming through. Arsenal are set up to compete at the very top of the Premier League and Champions League for the next several years.
Presumably next on the To Do List for Berta, Arteta, and the club: a Bukayo Saka extension. We can be confident they’ll get that done in due course, too.
Category: General Sports
