Mikel Arteta remains confident that Bukayo Saka and William Saliba will sign new contracts at Arsenal.
The influential duo have now become the focus of the Gunners’ efforts on that front after Gabriel Martinelli penned a bumper new four-and-a-half year deal at Emirates Stadium last week.
England winger Saka and French centre-back Saliba are both out of contract in the summer of 2024, with Arsenal having recently triggered options to extend both of their stays by an extra 12 months, along with midfield starlet Charlie Patino.
The club and Arteta have always seemed perfectly relaxed that extensive negotiations would eventually bear fruit, with both players enjoying pivotal roles in the leaders’ impressive pursuit of the Premier League title this season.
And that remains the case after Brazilian forward Martinelli’s recent decision to commit his long-term future to Arsenal.
Asked before Saturday’s London derby with Brentford if the Saka and Saliba extensions had taken care of themselves, Arteta responded: “Yeah, they will do. In the same way we dealt with Gabi [Martinelli], we’ll deal with the rest.
“Things need time sometimes but we are delighted with the news of Gabi obviously.”
Saka graduated from the Hale End academy and has gone on to establish himself as one of Arsenal’s most important performers, making 159 senior appearances across all competitions by age 21, scoring 31 goals and earning 24 senior caps as a vital cog for England.
Saliba, meanwhile, took longer to make his Gunners impact, taking an overdue opportunity to prove his worth this term after initially signing for the club for £27million in 2019 and being loaned out to Ligue 1 trio Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille.
But he has now established a solid partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes that has provided the bedrock for Arsenal’s title push, making 24 appearances and also winning his first eight international caps for France.
