Arsenal's William Saliba agrees to five-year extension as Real Madrid target commits future to Gunners

Arsenal have agreed a five-year contract extension for William Saliba, with an announcement expected in the coming days. Saliba had entered the final two years of his current deal at the start of the season and had long been coveted by Real Madrid, who viewed him as the ideal center back on whom to build their team of the future. The 24-year-old, however, has long expressed his desire to remain at Arsenal, with whom he has blossomed into perhaps the outstanding center back in the world, and bring major silverware to the Emirates Stadium. 

He will now have until 2030 to achieve that mission, following his center back partner Gabriel Magalhaes in committing to fresh terms. Focus will now shift to finalizing the extension of the other key player whose deal is up in 2027; initial talks have already taken place over fresh terms for Bukayo Saka, who has made clear that he shares Saliba's desire to win wearing Arsenal colors.

Signed from Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne in 2019, Saliba spent several years on loan in France before being integrated into Arteta's side in the summer of 2022. His impact was almost immediate, and in each of the three seasons where he has anchored the defense, Arsenal have finished second in the Premier League. In the latter two of those campaigns, Arsenal have had the league's best defensive record with Saliba playing more minutes than any outfield player. There are many supporters who will always believe that Arsenal might have won the title in 2022-23 if Saliba had not suffered a season-ending injury in mid-March.

A triumph for Arsenal

Given the results Arsenal have had with Saliba at the back, his extension is a triumph for the club. Indeed, it is easy to make the case that no contract extension is more impactful to the medium and long term prospects of Mikel Arteta's side. The speed, strength and precise passing of the France international are fundamental to Arsenal's ability to hold a high defensive line, one which Saliba anchors, while his unflappable nature is an equally vital component of what is the sport's best backline.

Beyond his footballing qualities, reupping Saliba is a statement of intent to the rest of Europe. An occasionally tense relationship with Arteta between 2020 and 2022 brought questions over the center back's future that were not entirely silenced by the four-year deal he signed in 2023. The drumbeats had been echoing from the Santiago Bernabeu even before Saliba put pen to paper on those terms and Madrid were convinced that a player of his quality belonged in their colors. The playbook is long established, let the months drip by and wait in the wings for the day when one of the sport's outstanding center backs, with his prime years still ahead of him, can be snared either without a transfer fee or when the direction of travel becomes apparent to Arsenal.

It never quite worked out like that for Madrid, who have also been linked with Liverpool's Ibrahima Konate. In March, Saliba insisted that he was "happy here and I want to continue here." Three months later he was speaking of a "good conversation" between his agent and Arsenal as talks accelerated.

When Saliba opted to stay at Arsenal and fight for his place following his loan at Marseille, sources spoke of a player who felt he had "unfinished business" in north London. Well, it's not done yet. In that same March press conference where he made clear his desire to stay, the reason why was apparent. "If you leave this club without winning anything, the fans will forget about you," he said. "I want to win big things here."

Saliba has afforded Arsenal plenty more time to do exactly that. They might have recruited an ideal backup this summer in Cristhian Mosquera but as the Gunners' title rivals Liverpool could attest in those years where they were without Virgil van Dijk, competing for the biggest prizes in England and Europe without your elite space protector is an almighty challenge. To have the sort of defense that can carry them to Premier League and Champions League glory, Arsenal needed Saliba. Now he can be a cornerstone for years to come.

Time is on Arsenal's side again. Given that much of the core of this squad remains the one that burst into title contention three years ago, it is remarkable how young Arteta's squad is. The average age of their XI in the first five league games this season in 24.7, the fourth youngest in the league. Saliba and Saka are still just 24. What passes for outfield veterans in this squad might just be Declan Rice and club captain Martin Odegaard, both 26, or the 27-year-olds: Gabriel, Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze. 

The signings of those latter two this summer was Arsenal gearing up for a title push right now. Keeping Saliba and Saka, should he sign an extension, keeps the window open for years to come.