Arteta ecstatic as Ornstein, Romano confirm Arsenal deal for £200,000-a-week ace is done
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta
An Arsenal deal involving a player due to earn around £200,000-a-week has been completed, with a Mikel Arteta masterstroke now coming full circle.
It’s already been a blockbuster window for the Gunners, with Kai Havertz banked to the tune of £65m. Deals worth roughly £38.5m for Jurrien Timber and £105m for Declan Rice have also been agreed. The pair will both undergo medicals on Friday.
However, Arsenal are also keeping one eye on those already at their disposal. Indeed, the club announced a new four-year contract for Reiss Nelson on Thursday.
Now, according to both Fabrizio Romano and David Ornstein, the next player to commit their future to Arsenal is William Saliba.
Indeed, Ornstein reported the French centre-half ‘has signed’ a new four-year contract that’ll keep him in north London until 2027. There is no option for an extra season.
The contract has already been signed and the official announcement from the club will come at some stage today. In further good news for Arsenal, Ornstein confirmed Saliba’s camp have not negotiated a release clause into the deal.
On the subject of salary, Ornstein reported Saliba is in line to earn roughly £10m per season. That equates to a touch under £200,000-per-week.
Romano echoed Ornstein’s claims, confirming Saliba put pen to paper on Thursday.
Furthermore, both trusted journalists noted significant interest in Saliba was shown from both clubs in the Premier League and abroad.
However, Romano noted Saliba “only wanted to stay” with Arteta and Arsenal.
Arteta masterstroke comes full circle
Saliba joined the Gunners back in 2019, though was made to wait three full seasons before making his debut for the club.
The 22-year-old was loaned back to Ligue 1 sides on three separate occasions – decisions that raised eyebrows and caused questions to be asked at the time.
However, Arteta clearly had a long-term vision in mind and Saliba played regularly each and every time he was loaned back to France. The most important aspect in a young player’s development is time on the pitch.
Saliba thus returned to north London an accomplished centre-back ready to take the Premier League by storm. He did just that last season when finally granted an opportunity to shine.
Saliba wasted no time establishing himself as one of the league’s most dominant centre-halves. With a new contract until 2027 penned, Arsenal have their imperious leader at the back tied down for the long haul.
