William Saliba makes triple Real Madrid admission amid Arsenal contract breakthrough

William Saliba has made three Real Madrid references in a new interview after agreeing to a long-term Arsenal contract. Extension talks have been ongoing in the background for some time and now an agreement has been reached, with sporting director Andrea Berta continuing to make a huge impact at the club.

The France international is set to become one of the club's highest earners with a commitment made to spend key years of his career at Arsenal after Mikel Arteta convinced him to be part of the project at Emirates Stadium, football.london understands.

His extension is expected to stop Real from making a move for his services with their plan to try and sign him as a free agent in the summer of 2027 or potentially on the cheap 12 months earlier, scuppering Los Blancos' plans..

Saliba will become the latest key figure at the Gunners to sign a new contract with Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Magalhaes and Myles Lewis-Skelly all recently penning fresh and improved terms. There are also discussions underway for Bukayo Saka to be handed a new deal.

With the 24-year-old firmly in the headlines, Sky Sports Premier League conveniently released an eight-and-a-half minute video titled 'William Saliba answers the internet's most asked questions'. In the clip, he is asked for his footballing idol, if he ever played in a different position and the toughest striker he has played against.

Unsurprisingly, his international teammate Kylian Mbappe was the response to the latter after facing him twice last season in the Champions League

When giving his answers to other questions, Saliba made a further two Madrid admissions with one as a slight concern, but the other as an early sign of his commitment to Arsenal.

"[Sergio] Ramos or Maldini," he said when asked for who he believes is the greatest centre-back of all time. "I didn't watch Maldini, but I watched Ramos and he is No.1 or second.

"He was a leader and won a lot of trophies. They had a great team but in big moments he scored goals while leading the back line. He won the World Cup and Euros, so for me he is the one."

Given the fact he spent well over a decade at Real, Saliba potentially wanting to follow in Ramos' footsteps would have been understandable but an answer later on in the interview confirmed why he loved Arsenal over Real and Barcelona from a young age.

"My first shirt," he revealed when asked for his earliest memory of Arsenal. "My mum put me in [Thierry] Henry's shirt and that was my first memory. I wore that shirt a lot.

"In Paris you had a lot of Arsenal fans but where I was from they preferred Real Madrid and Barcelona, but for me it [the Arsenal shirt] was a proper one."

When mentioning the two La Liga giants, Saliba also somewhat scoffed before tapping the Arsenal badge on his shirt upon referencing his current club to further make his feelings clear.

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