William Saliba has admitted he has not been at his best this season
William Saliba has admitted he has "not been so good" this season, with Arsenal now 15 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes have formed an impressive defensive partnership in recent years, but the France international believes their standards have slipped this season. Arsenal conceded the least amount of goals last season with 29, but they have let in 24 so far this campaign with ten games to go.
“If you want to win trophies, the defence has to be very good,” Saliba said. “First of all you, if you don’t concede and you keep clean sheets, you give yourself the best chance of winning the game - but with that comes the other part, which is scoring goals.
“For me, this season I have not been so good. I have to review my season, I have to work on my game. I have to watch especially my partner, Gabriel, who has been so, so good this season.”
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Saliba has also calmed fears that he could leave the Emirates this summer by insisting he won’t move until the Gunners win a major trophy. Real Madrid have made the French centre-back a top priority on their transfer hit-list, but Saliba is in no rush to quit north London and is relaxed about his contact having more than two years left to run.
If Arsenal don’t win the Champions League, the meter will tick over to five years without silverware, but the 23-year-old fans favourite is not agitating for a move. Saliba said: ”Of course I want to win big things with Arsenal.
”If you leave this club without winning anything the fans will forget about you. I want to win big things here. We are sad when we don’t win a trophy, but we have to keep believing because we are here.
Saliba also opened up about his future ( Image: 2025 UEFA)
”We won the first game (against PSV) last week and if we win or draw we are in the quarter-final and anything can happen. There is four games (after this round) before the final and we can do it, we all believe that we can do it.
“We have to believe in ourselves and everyone thinks we can do it - if we don’t believe or if we don’t dream to win the Champions League, there is no point to play. “
Saliba revealed there have been no talks about extending his contract, which expires in June 2027, saying: “There is some years [left], so there is no rush at the minute. I’m happy here, that’s it.”
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