‘In the back of his mind’: ‘Outstanding’ Arsenal player has been thinking about joining PSG – journalist

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William Saliba is set to sign a new contract at Arsenal, but throughout this season he’s had another idea in the back of his mind.

Indeed, according to Ben Jacobs, speaking on The Done Deal Show, at times this season, the ‘outstanding’ defender has been thinking about a return to France, namely with PSG.

Jacobs says that Arsenal found it hard to convince Saliba that the Emirates was the best place for him after being out in the cold for so long, but after becoming a key player under Mikel Arteta this season, the defender is set to extend his contract.

Saliba was thinking about PSG

Jacobs shared what he knows about Saliba.

“His form has rocketed and how hard has it been to convince the player that Arsenal is a better option than going to France where he played so well with Marseille? He only lives 6km from the middle of Paris in his family home, PSG were looking at centre-backs, they have Skriniar coming in and they’ll want one more. You can understand why this ‘go to France, they’ll want you and pay you handsomely’ has been in the back of his mind earlier in the season. But now, all of the parties are on the same page,” Jacobs said.

“Saliba is the one that has been more problematic. It was always behind in tersm of the roadmap, but from people I talk to and they’ve said this for months, Saliba will extend, Saka will extend and Martinelli has extended.”

Can’t blame him

In all honesty, it’s hard to blame Saliba for thinking about leaving Arsenal at the beginning of this season.

A player of his talent should’ve been put into this team a long time ago, and while Arsenal’s patient approach has paid off in the end, they ran the risk of upsetting, and ultimately losing, the centre-back by not giving him opportunities.

Luckily, everything has worked out for the best in the end and Saliba is set to be a key player at the Emirates for years to come.