Exclusive: Arsenal relaxed over William Saliba transfer situation despite growing Real Madrid links | OneFootball

Arsenal remain calm over the future of William Saliba despite ongoing transfer links with the likes of Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.

Despite a lot of recent speculation, including yesterday’s reports of Real Madrid contacting Saliba’s entourage, sources with a close understanding of the situation have informed CaughtOffside that Arsenal remain relaxed over the France international’s future.

Saliba is under contract at the Emirates Stadium until 2027 and the feeling remains that he is happy at the club and fully focused on doing well with the Gunners, with no confirmation that there has even been a concrete approach from Real Madrid.

Antonio Rudiger recently spoke about wanting Saliba at Real Madrid, but it seems all of this is widely felt to be media noise that is nothing for Arsenal to panic about.

William Saliba has been linked with Real Madrid (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

William Saliba transfer: Real Madrid looking for centre-backs

It is true, however, that Real Madrid are exploring the market for central defenders for summer 2025, CaughtOffside understands, as they notably missed out on Leny Yoro, who instead joined Manchester United this season.

Saliba would make sense as an ideal alternative for Los Blancos, but for now there is no sign that there’s any genuine risk of the 23-year-old pushing to get this move out of Arsenal.

Arsenal used to sell their star players and it often worked out badly for them, with Arsene Wenger unable to keep many of his biggest names in the latter part of his reign in north London.

Mikel Arteta won’t want to make the same mistake, so one imagines he’ll be adamant that the likes of Saliba need to be kept on for as long as possible.

Saliba signed a new contract not that long ago, along with other star names like Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Ben White.

All in all, the future looks bright for AFC so it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that they feel they can now persuade world class talents like Saliba to stay instead of seeking moves to Madrid or other European giants.