Bukayo Saka and William Saliba are two of Arsenal’s most important players – this much is obvious. However, with both of them entering the final two years of their current deals at the Emirates Stadium, their future is currently unclear but any transfers rumours regarding the two are only that -rumours.
Today, we’ll take a look at their importance to the team and how likely they are to re-sign as things stand – we’ll also take a look at comments made on the situation from Mikel Arteta.
Bukayo Saka
Bukayo Saka is Arsenal through and through. He joined the club all the way back in 2008, when he was just seven years of age – since then, he has grown from strength to strength to become one of the best academy players the Gunners have ever produced.
He has struggled for gametime this season and is currently out of action with a hamstring problem. Nevertheless, Arsenal were able to pick up an impressive 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in his absence.
Do not let this fool you, however – Saka is still an extremely important cog in the Arsenal machine and it would be a tragedy if his contract with the Gunners was allowed to expire.
His injury has given an opportunity to Noni Madueke who has stood in admirably both at club level and for England during the international break but Saka is the proven entity at the Emirates and extending his contract is a priority for the club
William Saliba
William Saliba joined Arsenal back in 2019, but did not become a regular member of the first team until 2022, following loan spells with Saint-Etienne, OGC Nice and Marseille.
Since then, he and Gabriel have become irreplaceable as Arsenal’s centre-back pairing – they have developed once of the most robust defensive partnerships in world football.
As a player, Saliba has practically no weaknesses – certainly none that are pertinent enough to hamper him on a regular basis. He excels at catching forwards who have breached Arsenal’s defensive line, given his deceptive quickness and pinpoint tackling ability.
In a one-on-one situation, Saliba is almost unbeatable – only the paciest forwards can catch him out.
If we had to pick one fault with him, it would be his injury record – but it certainly isn’t bad enough to consider letting him leave.
Out of him and Saka, Saliba is probably the most likely to leave, but it’s nonetheless highly unlikely that he will depart North London any time soon.
This is because he has been courted by Real Madrid for some time now. Los Blancos are very keen on bringing him to La Liga, but Arsenal won’t allow him to leave without a fight.
What has Mikel Arteta said?
Mikel Arteta is confident that both Saka and Saliba will remain at Arsenal for the forseeable future. He says that sporting director Andrea Berta has made progress in talks and claims that they both ‘want to remain here’.
Speaking in a press conference on the two players’ future, Arteta mused: “The collaboration around the club with what Andrea is doing and the agent is very good.
“The good thing is the players want to remain here and they want to be a big part of the history in this club over the next few years. Andrea will drive that and we will see where we go.”