William Saliba is finally set to get his chance to impress in the Arsenal first-team this season, and manager Mikel Arteta admits that they have a plan for a new contract also.
The defender joined from St Etienne back in 2019 before returning to France on three separate loan spells with his former club, Nice and Marseille.
He is now set to stay in north London to try and make his mark in our senior side after a thoroughly impressive 12 months which saw him called up to the senior France team as well as earning the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award.
With just two years remaining on his current deal at the Emirates, the manager has now admitted that they ‘have a plan’ in regards to extending his terms.
Arsenal manager Arteta on William Saliba contract: “We always have a plan, then we have to execute it. We are really happy to have William. You can see the way he’s adapted, he’s mature… we are delighted to have him”. ⚪️🔴 #AFC@footballdaily ⤵️pic.twitter.com/klfFdZinB0
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 21, 2022
I hope the club is already planning to extend his contract before the new season, as that will give us an advantageous position whether we are to make him a key player in the coming years or in regards to a future sale. Saliba retains a huge amount of potential, but it remains to be seen how effective he will be under Arteta in the Premier League, and he will surely retain interest in his signature from elsewhere should things not work out in north London.
Too many times we have allowed players to run into the final year or two of their respective deals, but this is something we should avoid doing at all costs, but depending on his wage demands, I could also understand if the club wanted to tell the player to earn himself new and improved terms also.
Patrick
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Saliba has really matured, he won all duels and was excellent on 1v1. We have ourselves a top CB in our squad. His pairing with Gabriel would be one of the best next season. Language barrier won’t be a problem bcos both speak French.
Better days ahead!
Except… hasn’t Arteta set a rule that everyone speaks only English?
To avoid the national/language cliques that have plagued Arsenal squads in the past.
I imagine they’ll want to see him actually perform against PL teams in meaningful games when everyone is playing full tilt.
It doesn’t take many errors before a CB gets a bad rep (although a forward can hit the corner flag 14 times but if he scores 3 he’s a hero).
The full interview notes show MA going on to say something like “It’s a matter of when (we execute the plan)”.
Which suggests to me that it’s not now.
Saliba would not extend now – he’s made it clear that if he’s not part of the first team plans then he wants to be away. He’ll likely only sign a contract when he sees that he’s part of MA’s plans.
Yes forwards can have a horrendous season but still play but one error from a keeper or defender marks him for life. Cricket is the same. A bowler can bowl terribly but one wicket keeps him bowling but if a batter makes one mistake his day is over. Niles had a brilliant season under Unai but many fans wrote him off after we lost to Chelsea in the EL final. Leno was brilliant under Unai but was blamed for two successive 8th place League finishes. I wonder if Arteta is going to give “mature” Niles mature Nelson and mature Torreira the same consderation as the mature Nketiah and now the mature Saliba? Guendouzie was not given the chance to mature. So what now of Tavares and his maturing? Maybe everyone we buy should immediately go out on loan for two years…to mature. Or maybe we should only buy mature players but they cost a lot. So our policy seems to be to buy one expensive mature player and one cheap immature player Ramsdale 30m/Turner 6m, Tierney 30m /Tavares 7m. Pepe 72m/ Martinelli 7m Jesus 50m/ Nketiah free Xhaka 30m/Elneny 5m Odegaard 30m/ESR free Tomiyasu 18m /Soares free. Its an endless game of chance. When it works you re a genius when it fails the fans swing the hanging noose. Then the club hires the next manager and the gambling starts all over .
When in trouble, we all shout out in our mother tongue, so when the defenders are in trouble, you can bet they won’t communicate in English, regardless of what Mike wants.
Don’t think Saliba is on the same page as MA he’s already made it clear not going to sign new contract clearly doesn’t want to be there so cash in while he’s worth something!
Let Saliba justify the hype we all have for him in the EPL. He has a great opportunity from next month to showcase his talent against EPL opponents then we can decide if he should be guaranteed a starting place in the team..
If he performs he will keep his place, if he struggles then he has to reevaluate like everyone else..
Lets go..
I too am in doubt as to whether Saliba will sign another contract if put in front of him right now. He will want to know how things pan out, he is holding the top hand. Many clubs could come sniffing around next season
If he makes the position his own, I believe that that is the only way where it works out with him signing an extension. So it’s on him, like I said, he holds the cards