Arsenal defender William Saliba has pledged his long-term future to the club amidtransfer links with reigning European champions Real Madrid.
Saliba has emerged as one of the best centre-backs in world football in recent seasons, while Madrid have seen the middle of their defence stripped almost bare due to injuries.
In October, current Madrid centre-back Antonio Rudiger named Saliba as the dream recruit that he would like to play alongside at the Bernabeu. But Saliba seemingly has other ideas.
When asked about his future in recent days, Saliba revealed no ambition to leave Arsenal, where his contract runs for another two seasons after this one.
"I signed for the club five years ago but it's only my third season," he said. "I'm enjoying everything - the players, the staff and the fans. I feel at home so of course [I could stay for a long time], why not?"
Saliba is still only 23 years of age but had to wait patiently for his chance with the Gunners.
William Saliba, Jurrien Timber
Saliba is one of the best centre-backs around / Julian Finney/GettyImages
The Frenchman joined only a few months after his 18th birthday in the summer of 2019 in a deal worth £27m. It raised eyebrows because he was an unknown talent after only 19 first-team appearances for Saint-Etienne, with Arsenal leaving him at the Ligue 1 side on loan.
But France's 2019/20 season wound up getting cancelled due to the Covid-19 abandonment, while Saliba was then only on the fringes when he returned to Arsenal for 2020/21 – during the first half of that campaign he made no senior appearances and was named in a matchday squad only twice.
He went on to start regularly for Nice during a loan agreed in January 2021. But Saliba looked destined to fall through the cracks at Arsenal when another loan in France, this time to Marseille, was agreed that summer. It was, however, the break he needed.
Saliba was named Ligue 1's Young Player of the Year and was reintegrated into the first-team squad back at Arsenal by Mikel Arteta ahead of 2022/23, making his debut – more than two years after joining the club – against Crystal Palace. He quickly became such an important part of the team that an enforced absence through injury later in the campaign derailed Arsenal's title challenge.
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