Arsenal face what could be a defining summer in Mikel Arteta's reign at the club.
The Gunners have been close to winning the Premier League title after a dramatic turnaround in fortunes since the manager's arrival at the club. Two second-place finishes to Manchester City look likely to be backed up by another with two games remaining; and a Champions League semi-final defeat against Paris Saint-Germain is still raw in the memory.
The club have fallen just short of glory in recent years, and need to ensure that the manager is given what he needs to finally break that barrier. It's been clear for some time that a striker has been needed in the red half of north London; but one of the biggest things new sporting director Andrea Berta can do this summer is keep some of the club's key men.
William Saliba has just two years remaining at Arsenal as it stands, but the club are said to be in talks about a new contract. football.london understands that the club are calm on the situation, and keen to renew his deal soon to see off interest from other interested parties.
One of those interested parties is Real Madrid. The Spanish giants have been circling for some time for the French star, but it looks unlikely he'll be leaving this year, certainly.
While the Gunners naturally will not sell unless a quite frankly ridiculous offer came in, that is not the club's style currently. A tried and tested technique is to try and sign high-value players on free transfers where possible, with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and David Alaba having done just that in recent years - and Trent Alexander-Arnold set to join that list this summer.
Naturally, with Saliba becoming one of Europe's top centre-backs - let alone young centre-backs, given he only recently turned 24-years-old, talk has turned to the French star who is set to make his 100th appearance for Arsenal. It's six years since he officially joined the club, with a couple of early loan spells and a slight stutter in the beginning of his Gunners career now a long way in the past.
Arteta was asked about his young star and whether he had now developed into the type of player that the club had thought he would following a fairly high transfer fee for such an inexperienced player back in 2019.
"Yes, and I think he's in an amazing trajectory," Arteta told reporters. "When you look in Europe, centre-backs, at this stage, to do what he's already done in the game, there's not that many."
Arteta also used the moment to perhaps send a pointed message to the French star about the benefits of being at Arsenal, and whether the grass would actually be greener elsewhere.
"There are a lot of factors that have contributed to that," Arteta continued. "The first one, him, his character, his professionalism, how much he demands himself.
"And the second one, the environment that he's got around him, especially the players that he plays with, the way they look after him, the way they promote and hide the qualities and weaknesses of a player. There's still much more to come from him."
'Hiding the weaknesses' of a player of Saliba's qualities doesn't sound too difficult a task for his Arsenal teammates, on the face of it. The young defender is undoubtedly one of the top centre-backs in Europe.
And his final sentence is indicative of the standards Arteta is aiming to set for the club. 'Sure, you've become a great young player, but you're not done yet.' The future will be bright for Arsenal as long as they hold onto top talent like Saliba.