Riccardo Calafiori, William Saliba, and Mikel Arteta (Photo by Bryn Lennon, Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta appeared to aim a sly dig at Real Madrid as he discussed William Saliba’s future at the Emirates Stadium.
It now looks like Saliba has agreed a new Arsenal contract, and Arteta definitely seemed very happy about the situation in his press conference today.
The France international has been a world class performer since breaking into the Gunners side in the 2022/23 season, and it would have been entirely understandable if Real Madrid made a serious effort to sign him.
Still, when asked about the rumoured interest from Spain, Arteta simply made it clear that Saliba always assured him he wanted to stay at Arsenal.
See below as the manager then cheekily commented that there aren’t many teams that can get Saliba out of Arsenal…
? Mikel Arteta has opened up about his conversations with William Saliba about Real Madrid ? pic.twitter.com/1LdLadqLIc
— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) September 26, 2025
William Saliba contract is great news for Arsenal
After other recent new deals for star names like Gabriel Magalhaes, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, it’s certainly a big boost for Arsenal to have tied down Saliba as well.
The 24-year-old looks like someone who could surely start for basically any club in the world, and he’ll be important for Arsenal for many years to come.
Alongside Gabriel in central defence, he’s been one of the most instrumental members of this squad as they’ve become so much more solid at the back than they had been for many years.
It wasn’t that long ago that AFC were considered a bit of a soft touch at the back, but now there aren’t many teams who can break them down, and while a lot of that will be down to Arteta’s coaching methods, it’s also vital to have the right players.
Saliba is also young enough that he can still keep on improving, so no wonder Arteta looked so happy with this news.
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