Real Madrid has reportedly made a huge offer to lure Arsenal defender William Saliba to Santiago Bernabeu this summer.
The France international has been with the Gunners since leaving Saint-Etienne in 2019 and, still only 24 years old, has almost his whole career ahead of him, yet he has quickly risen to become one of the top defenders in the Premier League, and that’s attracted top-level attention from Europe.
According to L’Equipe Saliba had been made Real Madrid’s priority target and “concrete” talks had taken place and a fee of £85m was mooted, and that doesn’t seem to have deterred Los Blancos, despite already splashing £50m on former Bournemouth man Dean Huijsen.
However, Arsenal seem just as determined to keep Saliba in their backline and, insiders have informed Softfootball that Arsenal have tabled a “very substantial offer” to their centre-back to extend his time in north London.
Arsenal would most likely not wish to lose Saliba for a free, joining the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Trent Alexander-Arnold to move to Madrid for nothing, but have been exploring the opportunity of a swap deal should Saliba decide to leave.
His current deal with the Gunners runs until 2027, meaning his value will likely begin to fall after this window as his contract runs down. Saliba though is no mind to rush a decision and is said to be using the summer break to think things over.
The Frenchman reportedly “dreams” of a move to Madrid but is undecided over whether he wants to run down his Arsenal deal.
Softfootball reported earlier that Arsenal’s pursuit of Viktor Gyökeres hits major snag as Sporting CP talks stall. Arsenal are facing a torrid time in their attempts to reach an agreement with Sporting CP over the signing of coveted forward Viktor Gyökeres.
The Gunners had walked away from a potential deal to sign Benjamin Šeško, instead opting to finalise a move for Gyökeres. However, that decision may now backfire, as talks with Sporting have reportedly hit a deadlock, and hopes of sealing the deal are crumbling rapidly.
