Darren Bent believes Arsenal should be concerned about Real Madrid’s interest in signing William Saliba.
The Frenchman has emerged as one of the top defenders in the world, consistently delivering strong performances for both the Gunners and the France national team.
Saliba has been in fantastic form for several seasons, but Arsenal has not been winning titles, which is a situation that Real Madrid may seek to exploit to lure him to Spain.
As one of the best players in his position, Saliba’s presence has significantly contributed to Arsenal’s status as one of the top teams globally, performance-wise.
While they are confident that Saliba wants to stay and he seems happy in London, Bent argues that it is natural to worry when a club like Madrid is interested in your player.
He tells Talk Sport:
“Real Madrid, it’s very rare they go after a player, like properly go after a player, and don’t get them.
“Usually, they do their homework, maybe a couple of years in advance. It’s a concern, it has to be.
“Saka is another one you worry about, but I think as long as Arsenal keep progressing, keep winning trophies, then they are not going anywhere.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Saliba has been a global hit for several seasons, and Madrid loves to sign players like him, so we should be worried about their interest in his signature.
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It all depends upon how interested RM really are in Saliba. Perez, the club President, and the one who decides transfer policy, likes “big” signings but he has shown that he’ll wait if necessary to get them on a better deal.
Mbappe, for example, eventually arrived on a free transfer and relatively reasonable wages, but with a big signing on fee spread over five years for tax purposes. Overall, a lot cheaper for RM than paying out a huge transfer fee upfront to PSG and big wages a couple of years ago.
For Saliba, there could be an offer next summer or RM may even wait until summer 2026, when Saliba will have a year left on his contract. Unless Saliba renews, the pressure will be on Arsenal to sell at a more “reasonable” price then, or face losing the player for nothing the following year. We’ll have to see.