William Saliba: Why Arsenal defender snubbed Real Madrid to sign new contract as Ibrahima Konate question answered

William Saliba wants nothing more than to win trophies with Arsenal following his long-term contract extension, expert Charles Watts has told Sports Mole.

On Tuesday morning, the Gunners confirmed that the France international defender had put pen to paper on a new deal, believed to be a three-year extension to his current terms until the summer of 2030.

Saliba's previous contract was due to expire at the end of next season, and Real Madrid were rumoured to have been keeping tabs on the situation, with a view to potentially signing the 24-year-old on a free transfer in 2027.

However, Saliba has committed his prime years to Arsenal despite not yet winning a major trophy at the Emirates, which Watts believes shows just how much faith the current crop have in Mikel Arteta's methods.

“It says that these players still have absolute belief that they can achieve what they want to achieve here," Watts said. "Saliba was the one I was always the most worried about, just because we know what Real Madrid do. We know the tactics and how often they pay off. So this is massive for Arsenal.

“Defender that everyone wants, and he's staying for another five years. It says an awful lot that they absolutely still believe they can win titles at Arsenal. They don't have to go anywhere else. For so many years, we've been used to Arsenal's best players going, and the narrative is just not there anymore. Arsenal's best players are staying, and that's been happening for a good few years now.

“Fair play to Andrea Berta, fair play to Mikel Arteta, because he's the guy that makes it all happen. Berta gets the deals done, but this shows the absolute belief that the players have in Mikel Arteta. He's still the guy that can get them over the line.

“He's built this squad. He's built this belief. The players are all bought into it, and they want to stay. And that's just massive, massive news for Arsenal. Five more years of William Saliba – it doesn't get much better than that.”

While Saliba is now regarded as one of the Premier League's finest central defenders, there were fears that the 24-year-old would never make the grade at Arsenal, who first signed him in 2019 under Unai Emery.

Saliba signs new Arsenal contract after "fizzling out" fears

Saliba was loaned out to Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille between 2019 and 2022, going from strength to strength during his various stints in his homeland and winning the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year prize with Les Olympiens in the 2021-22 campaign.

Marseille did their utmost to keep Saliba at the club, but the centre-back decided to remain with Arsenal and was integrated into the first team three years ago, at which point he formed his formidable partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes.

Saliba will have stayed at Arsenal for 11 years by the time his contract runs out, but Watts has admitted that he was concerned about the prospect of the Frenchman's Gunners career "fizzling out".

“It's tough to go back that far now. So much has happened since then," he added. "But yes, there was absolutely a fear. When you're getting sent on loan after loan after loan and you're not getting a look-in, there was genuinely the feeling that this might not happen for him.

“You have to look at it now and say Arsenal were right, Arteta was right. The reports at that stage were that Saliba did not look ready in training. There were a lot of issues as well when he first signed - personal things that I don't think helped him really settle and be able to show anywhere near his best.

“There was definitely a feeling in those early couple of years that he wasn't ready for the Premier League and that playing him could do more damage than good. But when you're seeing Arsenal go to Man City and conceding five goals, it was tough to think: ‘Is William Saliba not as good as this lot?’.

“But they got it absolutely right. He had his brilliant development years in France, came into the Premier League when Arteta thought he was ready. As soon as he saw him come back from Marseille, he said, ‘you're ready.’ He was straight into the team for the US tour and then just hasn't looked back since.

“At the time it was tough not to look at it like it was fizzling out before it even got started. But ultimately now you've got to say they made the right call.”

Can Saliba, Ibrahima Konate contract situations be compared?

Arsenal's gain could be Liverpool's loss in terms of their centre-backs, as Real Madrid will now be forced to consider alternative targets in the heart of defence following Saliba's long-term extension, and Ibrahima Konate is one of them.

Saliba's international teammate is out of contract at the end of the season - meaning he can hold talks with foreign clubs from January onwards - and he is looking increasingly likely to sign for Los Blancos on a free transfer in 2026.

Liverpool could fail to agree extensions with both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Konate despite winning the title last season, whereas Arsenal have had no problems tying down Saliba and Gabriel to new long-term contracts.

However, Watts was loath to compare the two, adding: “It’s probably just different situations - players in different stages of their career or what they're thinking is best for them next. Saliba's still at an age where he can sign this contract and if he does want to try his luck somewhere else, he's still got plenty of years left ahead of him.

“It's hard to compare the two of them. As soon as this Saliba news broke, my first thought was ‘Liverpool aren’t going to be happy with that!’ because I think we all know what's going to happen with Konate. It feels like the writing might be on the wall with that one, which I'm not bothered about for purely selfish reasons.

“But every time that I've spoken to Saliba or anyone's spoken to Saliba, he's always said the same message - how happy he is at Arsenal. He's got that boyhood thing with Arsenal as well, as a fan growing up, wearing his Thierry Henry shirt. Even though he's not coming through the academy, there is that emotional tie.

“And he just wants to win here. One of the best things about that game against Newcastle was Gabriel celebrating and Saliba in the background just going absolutely crazy. There’s nothing he wants more than to win at Arsenal. And fingers crossed this new deal allows him to do that.”

Saliba has scored seven goals and provided three assists in 140 appearances for Arsenal since his competitive debut in 2022, and he has made the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for each of the past three seasons.