Report: Arsenal planning to hand new contract to their ‘strong’ player even though Arteta’s never played him

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According to The Athletic, Arsenal are keen to offer William Saliba a new contract at some point in 2022.

The young French defender joined the Gunners in 2019, when Unai Emery was still at the club. Saliba returned to Saint-Etienne on loan immediately and many expected him to be a regular at Arsenal once that spell ended.

However, Emery was gone by then and Mikel Arteta was in the hot seat. The Arsenal boss was not convinced that Saliba was ready for the first team and kept him away from the side in the first half of last season.

The youngster was then loaned out to Nice and frustratingly for Arsenal fans, he was sent back to France in the summer, this time to Marseille, to gain more experience until the end of the season.

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Arsenal want to offer William Saliba a new contract

Although Saliba, labelled as a ‘strong‘ player by Stephy Mavididi, has never played a competitive game for Arsenal yet, it looks like the Gunners are convinced that he’ll be an important player for them in the future.

The report claims that Arteta and Edu are keen to offer Saliba a new contract this year, possibly once he returns to North London after his loan spell at Marseille.

Saliba’s current contract expires in the summer of 2024. That’s still about two-and-a-half years away, but it looks like Arsenal aren’t willing to take any chances, especially after how well he has done in France since the start of this season.

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Saka and Martinelli to be offered new deals too

Saliba isn’t the only talented young player’s future that Arsenal are looking to tie down, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka are two others who could get new deals too, says the report.

The young Brazilian signed a new contract in July 2020 and his deal runs till the summer of 2024. Arsenal also have an option to extend that deal by another year, but they are keen to reward the Brazilian for his brilliant performances.

Saka, like Martinelli, is on a long-term contract too. However, the youngster is arguably Arsenal’s best player at the moment and he deserves a deal worthy of his performances. Arsenal are keen to offer him that and it will be interesting to see if if any other big sides will come in to lure him away by then.

• Opinion: If Edu pulls off what he’s reportedly planning right now, it could totally transform Arsenal next season