Mikel Arteta has revealed Arsenal's plan to tie down the club's 'biggest talents' to long-term deals now that Gabriel Martinelli has extended his stay. The 21-year-old winger has penned a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Gunners, which keeps him at the club until 2027.
Last month he entered the final 18 months of his tenure at the Emirates Stadium, thus attracting the interest of numerous top-flight Premier League sides. Keen to secure Martinelli's future, Arsenal have included the option to extend his stay by a further year.
Now that the Brazil international is set to stay at London Colney until 2027, and 2028 at the latest, all eyes are now on Bukayo Saka and William Saliba. The duo are set to leave Arsenal at the end of next season once their contracts expire.
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Speaking to the press ahead of the Gunners' clash with Everton, Arteta addressed speculation regarding Saka and Saliba's future. The Spaniard said: "Part of the plan is to extend the contract of our biggest talents at the club and commit them for the future and we are trying to do that. We have started with Gabby which is good news.
"The others will be done whenever we can, but we have to agree on that." Arteta added: "I see everybody really happy and really willing to continue with the club. But obviously, we have to meet everyone's expectations and timing is key on that."
It's believed that Arsenal remain locked in talks with Saka over an extension and it's understood negotiations are progressing positively. Speaking in August, Arteta admitted that he was 'very confident' that he, the club and Saka's party 'are very much aligned' in their aspirations.
"I am very confident that we as a club and Bukayo, his family, his agent, everybody, we are very much aligned in what we want to achieve," the Arsenal boss said. "And now it is about putting it on a piece of paper.
"I would like that to get done, because I don’t want the player or anybody distracted while we are in the middle of the season. But those things take time and they have to go through the right process, and I think the process has been really good."
With regard to Saliba, football.london understands that talks over a new deal are thought to be progressing well too. Arteta also addressed the future of Mohamed Elneny in the pre-match press conference.
He said: "Our way of treating people is to give the maximum and when it’s the other way round and things become difficult I think the club has to behave well."
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