Arsenal strike 'agreement' over new contract as Andrea Berta produces another masterclass
Arsenal are said to have agreed a new contract with one of their best players.
Arsenal are said to have struck a contract agreement with one of their most important players. The Gunners have been working on new contracts over recent weeks after putting together a rather impressive and costly transfer window.
Mikel Arteta was handed a number of new signings, including Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke. More than £250million was splashed out overall, and Arteta will now need to back up those new signings with performances on the pitch.
The other side to that coin involves the current Arsenal players who are expecting their pay day. Those players include Bukayo Saka and William Saliba, who have just two years remaining on their current contracts.
Talks have been ongoing with those two players for a while, and ESPN are now claiming that a breakthrough has been struck with the latter. The report claims a new five-year contract has been agreed upon. They report it as a three-year extension, but in this industry, there are very few true extensions.
The deal will likely include new terms, meaning it’s a new five-year deal that will likely last until the summer of 2030. Saliba has been a vital part of Arteta’s plans, forming one of the best centre-back partnerships in the world alongside Gabriel Magalhaes.
The 24-year-old signed for Arsenal in 2019 but had to be patient for his opportunity, initially returning to Saint-Etienne on loan before having two further loan spells back in France. The Gunners will feel they got his development plan just right, though, with Saliba now among the very best central defenders in the game.
The report adds that Real Madrid have been monitoring Saliba’s contract situation in case talks broke down and an opportunity to do a deal presented itself, but it now looks as though Arsenal have put the defender out of reach. The report claims the deal has not yet been signed but that all parties have struck an agreement. Andrea Berta will be delighted if that’s the case, with the Arsenal chief having been highly efficient in striking deals since his arrival at the Emirates Stadium, including Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
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