William Saliba has signed a new Arsenal contract on a principle on a four-year deal. The French center-back’s current contract was slated to expire in 2024, but he has now extended it by a further three years. Prior to making a formal statement on his prolonged stay, Arsenal is now formalizing documents. After spending a year on loan with his old team Saint-Etienne, Saliba first joined the Gunners for an estimated £27 million in 2019. He was then given the number four shirt but did not make his first-team debut until August 2022.
Before making his Arsenal debut against Crystal Palace last year, the 22-year-old spent 18 months back in France on two further loan stints at Nice and Marseille. He quickly established himself as an important component of Mikel Arteta’s team. The defender scored twice in 27 Premier League games for the club, contributing to Arsenal’s highest point total since 2004 (84). Saliba’s injury, which kept him out for the whole of the second half of Arsenal’s season, didn’t prevent them from winning the league title, according to Jamie Carragher, but it would have brought them far closer.
“If he had stayed for the entire season, I don’t believe Arsenal would have won the championship,” Carragher said before William Saliba signed a new Arsenal contract. “They would have likely been much closer, but he still has to work on a few things to match the caliber of other central defenders who have won championships. I’m not denying that he would have had a significant impact on the remainder of the season. He undoubtedly would have given that he is superior to Kiwior and Rob Holding.”
“Gabriel Martinelli, Aaron Ramsdale, and Bukayo Saka have all pledged their futures to Arsenal, and William Saliba will do the same. The team moved quickly and effectively to sign its top young talents,” Nick Wright said. “However, most fans would concur that Saliba’s future appeared to be the most questionable of that bunch. The other members of the team have been around for a long time—in Saka’s case, since childhood—but the Frenchman, who joined in 2019, still seems like a relative newcomer.”
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