‘Elite’ Arsenal star attracting mass European interest, as Arteta demands urgent Edu action amid mega-money offer claim

An ‘elite’ Arsenal star who’s been nothing short of sensational this year is collecting mass interest, and TEAMtalk understands Mikel Arteta has made preventing a crippling exit a matter of urgency.

It took three long years but the wait was finally worth it for William Saliba. The French centre-half, 22, was signed by Arsenal way back in 2019. However, three successive loan spells back to Ligue 1 prevented Saliba from making his Gunners debut until opening day of this season.

Saliba has since gone on to form a sublime centre-back pairing with Gabriel Magalhaes. His current absence with a back injury has been keenly felt, with Arsenal conceding twice in successive league games, neither of which they’ve won.

Now, speaking to Caught Offside, French football expert, Jonathan Johnson, revealed Saliba is courting widespread interest from continental Europe.

“A lot of clubs wanted him before he went to Arsenal as well,” said Johnson.

“Clubs are well aware of the talent coming through at Saint-Etienne, like Wesley Fofana, who’s now at Chelsea, and previously Kurt Zouma a few years before that.

“There were a handful of top European clubs who were interested in him at that time, PSG were one of those, but Arsenal ended up winning that race for his signature.

“To this day he still attracts a lot of interest from across Europe because he’s an elite defensive talent.”

PSG being linked to French players is a common occurrence each window, though there’s meat on the bones regarding Saliba.

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Arteta demands Edu take action

Indeed, transfer insider Graeme Bailey told TEAMtalk earlier in April PSG were prepared to pounce at the first sign of an opening.

Saliba is under contract at the Emirates until the summer of 2024. The Gunners hold an option for an extra 12 months, though would dearly love to tie the player down for the long haul.

We were told Arteta has tasked sporting director Edu with making that a reality. What’s more, a new Saliba deal bas been made a matter of urgency.

Talks are understood to have taken place throughout the current campaign, though a new deal is not yet in place.

In the event negotiations break down, Bailey suggested it’s likely PSG will test Arsenal with a mega-money offer.

For Arteta’s sake, he’ll be hoping Edu can strike an agreement with Saliba and his camp sooner rather than later to remove the lurking PSG threat.

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