The famous footy journalist David Ornstein is known as the Arsenal Oracle because of his close contacts within the Arsenal camp, and we always sit up and listen when he speaks about the Gunners.
He has now recently been commenting on the contract talks with Bukayo Saka, and admits that although there had been some progress before the pandemic struck, Arsenal are still in competition for his signature from other clubs.
Ornstein told the Athletic: “They nearly had an agreement before shutdown. So that came at a really bad time for Arsenal in that sense. It’s close but until pen hits paper you never know.
“The will of all sides is to extend. But the deal has to be right. There is plenty of interest in Saka from other clubs, too.”
This is very worrying, especially as the 18 year-old only has 12 months left on his current deal and could force the Gunners to sell him if he decides to go elsewhere for a better deal.
It would certainly feel like a betrayal if Saka decided to move on, considering that he was nurtured through the Arsenal Academy from the tender age of 7 years old, and has been touted as a star of the future since being fast-tracked into the Gunners first team. I, for one, would certainly be very disappointed in him. Wouldn’t you?