Arsenal are increasingly confident that William Saliba will join Gabriel Magalhaes, Myles Lewis-Skelley and Ethan Nwaneri and agree a new contract with the club.
If their hopes are realised, Saliba will sign a new four year deal, tying him to the Emirates until 2029.
This is despite rumours of interest from Real Madrid, which Saliba’s agent Djibril Niang has encouraged by making contact with the Spanish giants. His behaviour has led to a strained relationship with the agent, although this does not appear to have affected the player himself.
However, Gabriel’s decision to extend his time with the club has had a significant influence on Saliba and has helped convince him to continue his career with the Gunners. And there are also suggestions that Gabriel committed only after learning that his centre-back friend was intending to do the same thing.

Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.