After three campaigns in the French trenches, William Saliba made his breakthrough last season, forging a telepathic partnership with Gabriel to form one of the best defenses in the Premier League. Saliba’s performances were so good that he earned a place in the French 2022 FIFA World Cup squad and he grew in influence with each passing game. Goals were also added to his repertoire and when he finally suffered a back injury in the business end of the campaign, Arsenal suffered terribly for it, with Rob Holding coming into the fray and unleashed the inner Harry Maguire in Gabriel.
Arteta was hopeful that Saliba’s back injury would eventually be healed, and was relieved when he was told that the defender wouldn’t require any surgery, but inevitably, Saliba could not feature anymore for the remainder of the campaign, and Arsenal had to soldier on without him. One can assume that Saliba’s injury issue in his first full season, in addition to Takehiro Tomiyasu’s consistent injury layoffs prompted Arsenal to go all out for Jurrien Timber, who provides very good depth and quality in the center back and right back.
With Saliba signing a five-year deal when he joined the club in 2019, there was the looming issue of his contract extension, as he had grown to become one of the best defenders in Europe, especially at such a young age. Arteta and Edu Gaspar had done very well to secure deals for Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli, Aaron Ramsdale and Bukayo Saka last season, so it was evident that these guys were onboard with the project and it was a matter of time before Saliba followed suit. It has been reported that Saliba has signed a new contract extension with the club, which is very amazing news. Saliba is one of the best defenders in the Premier League and there is so much room for improvement.
Arteta and Edu are obviously happy that their man has renewed his deal with the club,
“We are so happy to have signed a new deal with William Saliba. William is part of our vision to keep our talented young players, who will hopefully be successful with us for many years to come, so that we can grow and progress together. I know the supporters will be just as happy as we are to see William continue with us in the future.”
Mikel Arteta added,
“To have William extend his contract with us was something we have wanted to do for a long time. William proved last season just how good and how important he is to our squad.”
The contract extension also saw the Frenchman change his jersey number to #2, the same number he wore for Olympique Marseille in his pivotal loan stint with them. The number had been vacated since Hector Bellerin left the club for pastures anew in his native homeland of Spain. In his post-contract signing interview, Saliba has declared his ambitions, stating that he wants to win everything at Arsenal. The club is certainly in the right direction and Saliba has a big role to play in it.
In addition to Saliba, the last minute goalscoring hero against Bournemouth, Reiss Nelson, has also signed a contract extension with the club. Nelson’s situation was a bit scary because he had officially gone beyond the June 30th mark and actually a free agent eligible to get a new contract with any other club that wanted his services. There was some talk of Brighton interested in his services, but it’s evident that he loves Arsenal through and through and from all indications, he will be Bukayo Saka’s backup, putting him ahead of Nicolas Pepe in the pecking order. Nelson is a very attacking player that hasn’t truly lived up to the potential we know he has, but staying with the lads will give him the opportunity to continue to improve, as his play needs some much needed upgrade.
Nelson and Saliba extending their contracts is awesome news, especially with he fact that Arsenal has been on a very positive trend this summer, securing deals for Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Timber.
Edu Gaspar will need to change his focus on trimming the squad, as the lads have returned from their holidays and will be making plans to travel to Germany to take on Nuremberg.
Sayonara.
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