Arsenal central defender William Saliba is not in a rush to sign a new contract with the Gunners, according to The Athletic journalist David Ornstein on Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE.
The well-known and well-respected journalist has claimed that while Arsenal want the France international central defender to put pen to paper on a new deal, Saliba himself is not rushing to extend his current contract.
Earlier this month, 90min reported that Arsenal want to get Saliba tied down to a new contract by January 2023.
The defender is under contract at Arsenal until the summer of 2024.
The 21-year-old has been on the books of the Gunners since 2019 when he joined from Saint-Etienne (Goal).
Saliba stayed on loan at Saint-Etienne for the 2019-20 season, went on loan to Nice for the second half of the 2020-21 campaign and spent 2021-22 on loan at Marseille.
The youngster is now a regular in Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s starting lineup and is playing alongside Gabriel in the Premier League.
Ben White, who is a centre-back by trade and was brilliant for Arsenal last season, has been pushed to right-back.
Saliba has been that good.
David Ornstein on William Saliba’s stance on new Arsenal contract
Ornstein said about Saliba: “The situation, as I understand, is that he is not in a rush to come and sit down. He is focusing on his football.
“What does he need to rush for? Let’s see how things go, and let’s see if this is going to be a consistent run in the team because we are still relatively early in the season, we are still going to be stopping for the World Cup when many contract negotiations at many clubs will take place, then we will get into second half of the season.
“The power is all in Saliba’s hands.”
Alarming and worrying
In our opinion, Arsenal defender William Saliba’s stance on a new contract is alarming and worrying for the North London club.
Saliba is only 21 now, but he is already in the France national team and could play at the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar.
The youngster is only just making a breakthrough at Arsenal, but the Gunners will not want to wait until next summer before he puts pen to paper on a new deal.
If Saliba waits until the end of the season to make a decision, then it will invite other clubs to make moves for him.
Remember, the defender’s current contract runs out in 2024.
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