William Saliba and Mikel Arteta of Arsenal (Photo: Yong Teck Lim, Harry Murphy/Getty Images)
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta revealed whether he felt nervous during discussions about his future with William Saliba.
France International is planning to sign a new contract with Gunner. This is clearly a big boost for the club and a great job by sports director Andrea Berta.
However, speaking at a press conference on Friday, Arteta admitted that Saliba had questioned the entire project if she didn’t want to stay.
The Spanish tactician is pleased that it never came, but he appears to have had some concerns while Saliba’s situation remains unresolved.
Check out Arteta’s answer at his press conference below…
William Saliba’s Mikel Arteta is staying at Arsenal
“What we want is to have the best players,” he said.
When asked about “nerves” when dealing with Saliba, he added: “I don’t know if that’s the correct word or not.
“What you want is that when you make the decision to extend the contract and life of a player with the club, they feel the same way.
“If you suddenly feel that this isn’t happening, I think you need to question the whole process again because I don’t think that is a good starting point for what you want to build.
“We didn’t have to go through it because he was so clear that he wanted to be with us.”
Saliba has been one of Arsenal’s best players since joining the first team in the 2022/23 season and has formed a solid central defensive partnership with Gabriel Magalges.
Losing the 24 year old would have definitely been a huge blow that was extremely challenging to recover. So fans and everyone involved with Arsenal will be pleased that he will extend his stay at Emirates Stadium.
