William Saliba has given Arsenal supporters arguably the best news of the summer so far by reaching a verbal agreement over a new four-year contract.
With the Frenchman's current deal due to expire at the end of next season, understandably getting his future sorted as early as possible has been a top priority for Mikel Arteta, technical director Edu Gaspar and, particularly, Director of Football Operations Richard Garlick, whose main role entails negotiating contracts with both existing and new players.
It's safe to say it's almost mission complete as football.london understands that all parties have reached an agreement that will keep Saliba at the Emirates Stadium until 2027 at the latest and all that remains is for the central defender to officially put pen to paper on his new contract.
Had there been no agreement then the Gunners may have found themselves in a position where selling the 22-year-old this summer would have represented the best-case scenario in order to avoid losing him for free in just over 12 months' time. Furthermore, signing a replacement would have been an expensive task.
So not only will Saliba signing a new contract help Arsenal save millions in the summer transfer window but the deal is proof that the club are moving in the right direction in terms of tying their key players down having already done so with Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Martinelli, Aaron Ramsale and Bukayo Saka in recent months.
And another boost is potentially on the way. Equally as important as the France international committing his future to the north London outfit is that he is fully fit at the start of next season having not been available for selection since limping off in the Europa League round of 16 defeat against Sporting CP on March 16 with a back injury.
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football.london understands that Arsenal's first-team players are due to report back to the club's training base at London Colney following their summer holidays during the first week of July and Arteta has already revealed what steps have been taken to ensure the defender takes part in pre-season.
"It's probably too early to say. He's been evolving in the right way," the Spaniard said last month when asked if there were any worries about Saliba being ready for pre-season. "The last few weeks have been much more positive than the previous two months. We wanted to protect him.
"It was an injury that needed some caring and attention, and we've been pretty conservative to give him a chance to have a good pre-season to have a chance to go again next season."
After missing the final two months of the campaign, there will perhaps be no better sight than seeing Saliba strut out for the Gunners' first pre-season fixture against FC Nurnberg on July 13 and going on to prove his fitness ahead of the start of a brand new Premier League campaign a month later.
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