Arsenal column: What Saliba told me about his future, links with PL star & more

Encouragement over William Saliba’s Arsenal future

I was in Tuesday’s press conference when William Saliba was quizzed on his future and what was undeniable in his answers was the strong feelings he has towards Arsenal.

It was the truth when he spoke about being a fan of the club as a kid, something he says is behind the wild celebrations we see from him whenever the team scores a goal.

But those feelings will only go so far and that is why, until a new contract is signed, fans will be edgy about his long-term future – especially with Real Madrid waiting in the wings.

Saliba confirmed to me when I asked that talks had not started yet over a new deal. “There is no rush,” he said.

In a way, he is right. He was into the final year of his contract when he signed his last extension, in 2023. We are far from that now, so the need for an immediate signature is far less pressing.

But Arsenal fans will be desperate for things to be sorted sooner rather than later because the longer any talks go on, the weaker the club’s position will become.

We all know how Real Madrid operate. Just look at what’s happening with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Liverpool right now.

Madrid love a free transfer and have shown before that they are willing to play the long game for their big targets if it means they can get them for nothing.

And losing Saliba on a free would be disastrous for Arsenal. He’s the best young centre-back in the world. His value is huge. So that simply can’t be allowed to happen.

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop once the club’s new sporting director, Andrea Berta, is confirmed. Sorting the contracts of Saliba, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Magalhaes need to be at the very top of his priorities list.

Saliba’s comments on Tuesday were certainly encouraging and it’s clear how strong his desire is to win trophies at Arsenal.

“If you leave this club without winning anything, the fans will forget about you,” he said. “I want to win big things here.”

Those are the sort of statements that fans want to hear, but I don’t see things being sorted quickly. I can see things dragging on a bit, as they did last time.

Saliba will hold the cards going into talks, such is his stature in the game now and the level of the clubs that would be interested in luring him away.

So Arsenal will have to show that they can match his ambitions. The next 18 months will be absolutely crucial to that.

Martin Odegaard criticism is over the top – here’s why he’s struggling

I’ll be honest, I just can’t get my head around a lot of the criticism Martin Odegaard has been getting of late.

It’s certainly fair to criticise some of his performances because, as he admits himself, he hasn’t been good enough compared to the lofty standards he has set over the past couple of years.

But some of the criticism has gone way beyond that. Has he been off colour? Yes. Has he been awful? Absolutely not.

When you assess Odegaard’s form you have to consider a bit of context.

The right hand side of the attack that he has become so accustomed to and successful with has been totally decimated.

Ben White has been out for months, as has Bukayo Saka. Odegaard’s relationship with those two is almost telepathic and has been so integral to Arsenal’s resurgence over the last few years.

With both Saka and White absent, Odegaard has had to try and adapt to playing with other players and forming those relationships takes some time.

He’s also come back from the first major injury of his career and I’m still not convinced he has fully recovered from that. He came back surprisingly early from that injury and was thrown straight back into the starting XI straight away.

We’ll never know if we are seeing a knock-on effect of that now, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we are.

Odegaard is also the only creative player Arsenal have in the team right now. That’s a big responsibility solely on his shoulders.

He got a lot of stick after the Manchester United game last weekend, but he had very little to work with. He had wingers on either side who had really poor games and he had a central midfielder playing as a striker ahead of him. So it’s no real surprise he struggled a bit.

Odegaard has been voted Arsenal’s player of the season for each of the past two seasons, deservedly so as well. He’s struggled to maintain that form this season but any talk of him being replaced at this stage is just ridiculous.

I’m convinced we’ll see him back to his best soon.

Bruno Guimaraes linked again with Arsenal, but this is what we need instead

I’ve seen all the Bruno Guimaraes talk and it’s not something I’m able to confirm at this stage.

With Andrea Berta coming in I’m sure we’ll see lots of players being linked with Arsenal, especially ones that he may have had an interest in before.

We know Arsenal have been working hard to position themselves at the front of the queue for Martín Zubimendi and hopefully Berta’s arrival will help the club get that one over the line in the summer.

I would be surprised if we see another midfielder of that sort of stature arrive as well, however, given the clear need to significantly strengthen in the forward areas.

I know that Jorginho and Thomas Partey are expected to leave, but signing Zubimendi and Bruno in the same window feels like a bit of a stretch to me.

Bruno is a quality player, but with Declan Rice already there I’m not sure he’s really needed. If Arsenal were going to add another midfielder as well as Zubimendi I would much rather it be a more creative type, someone who can share the burden with Odegaard at times.

That’s a profile of a player I don’t think they have enough of in the squad. They let Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira leave last summer and they were never really replaced.

That was a mistake in my opinion and I would like to see that rectified this summer.

Leroy Sane to Arsenal links aren’t that convincing to me…

I’m not sure about the Leroy Sane links.

Clearly he’s been a great player, but he will be 30 next year and his wages will be huge. I just don’t think that’s the sort of option Arsenal need to be going for in the summer, even if he is a free transfer.

I could see some sense in the Joshua Kimmich interest because of the type of player he is, but I just don’t see it was Sane.

Arsenal do need a new winger. There is certainly the potential there to bring in an upgrade for Gabriel Martinelli, but for me that has to be a long-term option.

Someone like Nico Williams makes perfect sense to me, or even Antoine Semenyo at Bournemouth. Both are explosive wingers who have yet to hit their peak.

You can’t say that for Sane. His best days are behind him and Arsenal have been burnt in the past by making signings like that.

It’s something they’ve moved away from and they are better for it as a result.

So it’s not one that would excite me, I have to admit.

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