Category Archives: Arsenal
Thoughts on the William Saliba Contract Situation

Saliba celebrating his first Arsenal goal against Bournemouth
Saliba has been one of the revelations of the season following a breakthrough campaign after three loan spells in the French Ligue Un. His numbers for the team this season, up until his injury at Fulham which was aggravated in the Round of 16 Europa League loss to Sporting CP were quite staggering.
Key Stats:
Games Played – 27
Clean Sheets – 12
Discipline – Four Yellow Cards
Attacking Output – Two goals, One Assist
Tackles Per Game: 1.3
Interceptions Per Game: 0.7
Aerial Duels Won Per Game: 2.0
Clearances Per Game: 3.0
Dribbled Past Per Game: 0.1
Blocks Made Per Game: 0.4
Average Passes Per Game: 69
Long Balls Per Game: 2.4
Key Passes Per Game: 0.2
Pass Completion Percentage: 91%
While it has undoubtedly been a standout campaign for Saliba, it is also worth noting that he’s in his fourth year of the five year contract he signed with the club, which brings us to the precarious situation of a player going into the summer with only a year left on his contract. He can sign a new bumper deal that will tie him for five more years, or nine years, if you’re Chelsea, see out his contract and leave on a free transfer next season, or gets sold to the highest bidder as the club doesn’t wish to lose out. With Saliba, we hope it’s the first criteria on the list.
He’s just 21 and has his best years ahead of him. In the 27 Premier League games he played, his quality shone through and he formed quite a partnership with Gabriel, which was one of the best in the Premier League. In terms of his connection with the fans, Saliba has no issues there. They already have his song and he clearly loves it at North London, so all that is required at this point is for his representatives to reach an agreement with the Arsenal hierarchy to extend his stay at the club.
Saka recently signed a new deal with the club in a season where the futures of Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli and Aaron Ramsdale have been secured. Arsenal are also making plans to extend the contract of Reiss Nelson and Martin Odegaard, so it is evident that Mikel Arteta wants to keep the core of the team that was outstanding in the Premier League this season.
It has been reported that Saliba’s reps have rejected Arsenal contract offer and are pushing for higher wage demands. For a player of his ability and bludgeoning reputation, there is a certain expectation that comes with it, and I am hopeful that both parties can reach a common ground and conclude this affair, so that it doesn’t become a protracted saga.
Sayonara.
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Challenge for the Title. Reset. Challenge Again.
Irrespective of what happens between Arsenal and Wolves on Sunday, the Gunners will end the season in second place, which is a massive improvement from the previous finishes of the earlier campaigns. The chart below shows Arsenal’s final position on the Premier League table since the second placed finish in that Leicester-winning fairytale season in 2015/16.
For six full seasons, Arsenal remained in the trenches, playing Europa League football, before even getting to the point where they failed to qualify for Europe entirely. For a club of our caliber, it was unacceptable, but we were transitioning from life after Arsene Wenger and we expected a few bumps along the way but we didn’t expect to stay in the wilderness for this long. Edu Gaspar and his team must be commended for the smart recruitments made in the last couple of seasons, as the club has signed some players whose contributions propelled them to become title challengers again – Aaron Ramsdale has been a very commanding presence in goal, while the likes of Ben White and William Saliba improved the defense. Oleksandr Zinchenko revolutionized our play with his left back / central midfield dual role, while Gabriel Jesus galvanized our waning attack. In January, Arsenal made three smart signings in Leandro Trossard, Jorginho and Jakub Kiwior, who did their own bit to contribute to the title challenge, even though the team ultimately fell short.
In an interview on the official website, Arteta shared his views on the campaign and his plans for next season,
“We have achieved reaching the Champions League with five or six games to go and we’ve finished second. I think we have developed a lot of players and taken them to a very different stage of their careers and they have contributed to the team exceptionally well. We have created and developed a huge relationship with our fanbase and created something special around the team.”
“So if I look at it that way, there are a lot of positives to take from the season, probably more than was expected with the capacity, ability and resources the team had. But, as well we spent 248 days on top of the Premier League, and at the end, we didn’t have enough, or show enough, to win it.
“We tried our best, and we made some mistakes that have cost us, but the reality is there’s a team that you have to congratulate, and that’s Manchester City as well as Pep and the coaching staff. Throughout 38 games they’ve been more consistent and when that happens, you have to shake hands, say congratulations, take a lot of the things that you’ve done well over the season, keep them and learn from the others that need to change or improve to get to another level.”
“To be fair, they were much better than us. They raised the level like they did against Real Madrid the other day, and when they play at that level, it’s like ‘wow’. We could not reach it. That psychologically paid a big price on the team.”
“Looking back, even if we’d won at Anfield and against West Ham and Southampton, we could still have finished second. In the end, you have to beat them when you go toe-to-toe with them because that’s 12 points – six more that we would have than them, and they’d have six less.”
“I think we are in a moment of our journey where we have built a lot. We have a great foundation and we have become really competitive, but now I think it is time to press the reset button, and go again.”
“We have to be faster, more determined and ruthless because the dimension that opens up now is bigger but the margins are really small so we have to be really smart.”
Firstly, the gaffer acknowledged the juggernaut that is Manchester City, that has been a constant thorn in the flesh of opposing teams in the Premier League. In the past six seasons, they have won five, and even finished in second place when Liverpool managed to nick their first title in 30 years. Everyone knows how crazy and motivated Pep Guardiola is and the gauntlet has already been thrown for any team that has it in them to challenge Manchester City next season.
Finishing in second place has seen Arsenal return to Champions League football at the expense of teams like Liverpool and Tottenham, so Arteta would know that he needs to continue his coaching methods and tactical setup that almost got the lads over the line this season, even though injuries in key positions played a significant role in the final outcome of the league.
It’s all about having the right levels of ambition, and to challenge for the Premier League and go all the way to actually win it, you need to have the right squad depth. Having a quality squad will get you over the line when injuries and suspension kick in, or when you just need to rotate to keep the squad fresh. Arsenal was knocked out of the Carabao Cup before the Qatar World Cup in November 2022, knocked out of the FA Cup in late January 2023, and crashed out of the Europa League via penalties in February 2023, which essentially meant that Arsenal only the Premier League to focus on.
Following that blip in February that saw the Gunners lose to Manchester City and Everton, as well as draw with Brentford, Arsenal won seven games in a row before going to that terrible period in April that saw the club drop vital points to Liverpool, West Ham and lowly Southampton before yet another loss to Manchester City. Fingers have been pointed on specific players as the ones responsible for the bad run of form, but the team clearly didn’t have the right level of depth to sustain the Premier League title charge.
To tackle the issue of squad depth, Arsenal will have to be smart with their recruitment, as well as some potential sales.
On potential departures, Granit Xhaka seems to top the list of players set to leave the club with Bayer Leverkusen heavily linked with a move for the Swiss midfielder. Thomas Partey has also been mentioned as a potential departure, which will be surprising, bearing in mind that he has just been at the club for three seasons, and had been riddled with injuries, but he managed to be in good form early in the campaign, only to struggle towards the tail end. Reiss Nelson might leave on a Bosman if he doesn’t renew his deal, and the loan returnees like Nicolas Pepe and Ainsley Maitland-Niles don’t seem to have a future with the club. Emile Smith-Rowe is another player that has been used sparingly this season after his return from injury, and he can potentially be on the move, if you follow all these whispers.
The only potential arrivals so far, in terms of speculation, remain Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo, who would be amazing additions to the team, and the experience of Ilkay Gundogan might be poached, if he doesn’t decide to move to Barcelona or renew his contract with Manchester City.
It’s going to be a long summer rife with loads of speculation, and I’m sure we will have some legitimate transfers soon. However, the expectation will be to challenge for the Premier League title again next season.
Sayonara.
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Oi! Bukayo Saka Has Signed da Ting, Innit?!
Bukayo Saka has been a model of consistency for the Gunners and at such a young age of 21, he is closing in on 200 appearances for the club. Since his breakthrough campaign in the 2019/20 season, Saka has featured across several positions before making the right wing his own, ousting the likes of Nicolas Pepe and Willian, who aren’t at the club this season. While the shaggy-haired winger moved to Fulham after a stint back home in Corinthians, Pepe was shipped back to France to play for OGC Nice, but he has failed to command a first team berth in the French outfit, which essentially means that he will be back in the club this summer, and with a year left on his contract, Arsenal will have to make a decision on his future.
This season, Saka has scored 13 Premier League goals and created 12 assists for his teammates, making it his personal best in terms of his attacking output to the team. He is the current Player of the Season for Arsenal, an award he won two years in a row. Saka has been on an upward trajectory, playing consistent football and getting better with each passing campaign. As the young lad aged, he improved in maturity and most importantly, his growing influence within the team.
To show commitment to a player that has risen to talismanic status at the club, Arsenal has offered Saka new contract worth £290,000 a week, making him the highest earner at the club. Skeptics will want to look back at the huge deals offered to Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, in which Arsenal didn’t get any tangible return from the experienced heads afterwards, but in Saka, Arsenal has a player that is actually committed to improving himself,
“For me, it’s about achieving my personal ambitions; how much I push myself and demand from myself each game, week in, week out. Then I have all the right people around me in terms of family, and when I come to the training ground, my teammates, the coaching staff.
I think I have everything I need to become the best player I can be, and that’s why I’m happy to stay here and be here for the future, because I really believe that we can achieve big things.”
These words from Saka are heartwarming, as he’s making it clear that his focus in on getting better in the right environment, which is Arsenal. Saka has been given ample opportunities to keep improving, with Mikel Arteta placing absolute trust in him. He featured in all 38 Premier League games last season, and he has played 37 games this season, and if he starts against Wolves on Sunday, he will be the second ever outfield player to feature in all Premier League games for Arsenal in back-to-back seasons after Lee Dixon.
Saka is a very influential player for Arsenal and England, and at 21, his best years are way ahead of him. He played a massive role in Arsenal’s title push this season, and alongside Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli and Aaron Ramsdale, he has shown commitment to the cause extending his stay in the club for four more years. Saka’s consistency and availability have been a huge plus for the team, but with Champions League football coming into the question, Arteta will need to manage his minutes by signing a winger that can alternate with him. Yes, he have Nicolas Pepe returning but I believe he has fallen out of favor with Arteta, but I’m hopeful we can use Moussa Diaby as a makeweight for the Granit Xhaka deal to Leverkusen.
Mikel Arteta is absolutely delighted with Saka extending his deal,
Retaining our best young talents is key to our continued progress and Bukayo represents such an important part of our squad now and for the future.
As well as being a fantastic talent, Bukayo is a special person, he’s loved by us all and he is a credit to himself and his family for the hard work and commitment they have all made to get to this level today.
We are happy Saka has extended his stay with the club and we can only hope he continues to churn our exemplary performances next season.
Sayonara.
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