Mikel Arteta makes Bukayo Saka Arsenal contract feelings clear with William Saliba message

William Saliba is set to sign his second contract extension with Arsenal. It is a five-year deal, which comes as a significant boost to Mikel Arteta and one that he simply could not hide his delight about despite still waiting on an official announcement.

The club were understood to have been calm for some time on the 24-year-old’s future but have finally been able to settle any question marks over a potential exit.

Long gone are the days of Arsenal being forced to sell their biggest stars, and instead, not only in the market are players like Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi pining to join the club, but the likes of Saliba are happy to turn away from the potential interest from Real Madrid, among others.

When asked about the change in how the club is viewed from the days of mass player departures, Arteta believed they are not succeeding with each scenario where a renewal is desired.

He said: “We can talk about what we want and what we want is to have our best players and the players that certainly we believe they can still give much more to the club, and what we want to achieve with us, and so far we are achieving it case-by-case.”

Despite the imminent nature of the renewal, what preceded the news of an agreement was certainly nerves within the fan base about whether Saliba would indeed commit. Arteta, however, disagreed with the label of nervousness.

“I don't know if that's the right word, I think what you are hoping is that when you make a decision that you want to extend a player's contract and life with the club is that they feel the same way," he said.

“If suddenly you feel that this is not happening, I think you need to question the whole process again because I don't think that's a good starting point for anything that you want to build. So we haven't had to go through that because it was very clear, in particular, Willy, that he wanted to stay with us.”

Saliba will join Gabriel Magalhaes, Ethan Nwaneri, and Myles Lewis-Skelly in agreeing terms on a new deal in 2025. Sporting director Andrea Berta has been critical in the club’s recruitment, but clearly, his impact on extensions is proving just as transformative.

Furthermore, when Saliba signed his previous deal in 2023, he agreed to a four-year contract. Now expected to sign until 2030 and through the best years of his career, this is a commitment which speaks volumes of how Arteta’s best players feel about their chances of success in the short and long term at Arsenal.

Arteta was asked whether Bukayo Saka could be the next one to put pen to paper. While stopping short of outright stating that the England international would indeed be joining Saliba and company, it was again evident this appears a matter of when rather than if.

“I would love that,” he said. “From everything that I know, again, he's a player that is extremely happy and proud to be and to have the role that he has in the football club.

“Things will develop in a natural way, like they always do, and everyone knows how important Bukayo is for us, so hopefully we can do it.”

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