Arsenal’s William Saliba seems to have firmly addressed the transfer rumors linking him to Real Madrid. The Spanish giants have been closely tracking Saliba’s progress at the Emirates and may make a formal bid to sign him as soon as next summer.

Alongside Gabriel Magalhaes, Saliba has formed one of the best center-back partnerships in recent years. Key players like Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, and Ben White are also crucial to Mikel Arteta’s plans, highlighting Arsenal’s commitment to retaining their top talents.

To secure their futures, the club has prioritized signing these players to lucrative contracts that extend into the late part of this decade, with Saliba and Gabriel among those who have agreed to new deals in the past 18 months. Nevertheless, speculation about Saliba moving to Madrid continues.

Back in the summer of 2023, Saliba penned a four-year contract but even that has not resulted in interest dwindling. Playing for Madrid is likely the pinnacle for most footballers, however it appears that Saliba is currently very happy in north London.

Alongside Jakub Kiwior for the Premier League clash at home to United, Saliba delivered a dominating display at the back and capped it off by scoring his first goal of the season. A deep corner from Bukayo Saka was headed back across goal by Thomas Partey with the ball trickling into the net off the back of Saliba.

With the Gunners getting some breathing room as a result of that goal, after Jurrien Timber scored the opener from a set-piece, Saliba wheeled away gleefully and pulled out quite the celebration. Moments after knee sliding into the corner, the 23-year-old aggressively thumped the badge on his chest before leaping into the crowd.

From just that, it seems quite clear that Saliba has every intention of staying at Arsenal at least in the short-term. Reports have also suggested that talks have been opened over a new bumper contract for Saliba and it is very possible those conversations advance following his not so subtle message.