Kevin Campbell is refusing to entertain the idea that William Saliba might leave Arsenal again even though the defender has refused to commit his future to the Gunners.
Saliba joined the club in 2019 from Saint Etienne, however, he is yet to kick a ball for Mikel Arteta’s side, with the Spanish manager insisting he was not ready.
But he was in stunning form in the just-concluded season where he won awards for his performances while on loan at Olympique Marseille.
He is now expected to be a part of the Arsenal team for next season, but in different interviews, he has refused to commit his future to the Gunners.
Campbell says it doesn’t matter what he says in the interviews, he is an Arsenal player and he will be in their team next season.
He tells Football Insider: “He is an Arsenal player. He is going nowhere.
“All of these comments in the media… Saliba said this, Saliba said that, it doesn’t matter. He is an Arsenal player. He is under contract and the club want him back.
“Arsenal did what is best for the player and the club last summer by getting him back to France. He has played regular football this season and it’s gone really well.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Saliba has to be in the team for next season after his performances in his latest loan spell.
The defender deserves to get a new contract, but it would be hard to convince him to sign one if he doesn’t play regularly for the club.
Hopefully, Arteta will give him the chance to challenge other defenders for a first-team berth.
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If he doesn’t sign a contract extension this summer, we better sell him while his value is still at it’s max. Next summer, we will be in a very weak position. We shot ourselves in the foot again with this one
The way Arsenal dealt with him for an outsider is wierd, we signed him for 4.5 years for a significant fee and sent him to loan 2.5 years, i.e. since Arteta arrived.
Unless there is something behind the scenes that we do not know, I do not see him signing for the club, unless it is part of being sent back to OM for again to play CL.
What let him play,or do you want a share in the sales
Lots of young players rashly say things without being able to properly think their near future through. SALIBA SEEMS TO BE BEHAVING TYPICALLY OF HIS AGE.
But MA is correct in saying he is under contract and will have no choice but to return.
Once he has done and plays regularly, as I PREDICT HE WILL, HE’LL SOON CHANGE HIS MIND, IMO!
WHO WOULD NOT LOVE PLAYING IN THE BEST BY FAR AND MOST DIFFICULT LEAGUE IN THE WORLD!
Plus living in London. HE WILL SOON SETTLE DOWN.
Call it unforced error, own-goal, but this long running Saliba saga doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. Such a pity considering the hype when we signed the player three years ago. In fact the player now has the upper hand; he can refuse to sign a contract extension. Perhaps we should just end the misery – FREE SALIBA. I’m sure Marseille will be able to find an extra 40M.
I strongly believe you’re right. But if breakout star Tchouameni is beyond our reach (in pedigree) and is valued at £70m, then Ligue 1 young player of the season who has been this consistent for years should be going for up to £80m. That is what we would have been charged if we went to buy him from France at his current level. So £40m is small, I would say
A valid argument, dgr8xt. Maybe we just need to bite the bullet – up Saliba’s wages to 120pw and set a contract release clause of 100M to protect his value. Case closed.
I find it funny when everyone is screaming he has a contract with us.
I mean are we not well known for paying players to leave , giving players away for free.
All these happened while those players had contract with the club.
Why are we not taking the same approach this time??
Perhaps maybe we learnt from our mistakes.
Maybe those decisions being made in the past was not the best like some fans have wanted us to believe it was the best decision?