Arsenal must recognise that they may have to pay William Saliba much more than they originally intended. Having signed as an 18-year-old in 2019, the Frenchman was placed on a relatively low wage in the grand scheme of the Gunners’ senior squad.
However, there have been suggestions that contract talks between the player’s representatives and Arsenal have raised concerns over the expectation of what the club should be paying him. According to Spotrac, Saliba is currently on a deal worth around £40,000 per week.
Arsenal’s current offer would supposedly treble this. Yet, there’s a good argument that Saliba should indeed be earning substantially more.
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Bukayo Saka’s contract is understood to earn him around £200,000 per week but if all bonuses were achieved this could rise to as much as £300,000 per week. football.london understands this makes him the new highest-paid player at the club, overtaking Gabriel Jesus.
There’s no doubting Saka’s importance to this side but the downfall of Arsenal’s season was sparked by Saliba’s injury and subsequent absence. The Frenchman simply couldn’t be replaced effectively enough to keep the goals out and the progression as effective.
There’s an argument that the 22-year-old is in fact the most important player in the current side. Besides perhaps Aaron Ramsdale, losing Saliba cannot be effectively covered as well as any other position on the field.
Arsenal might, in fact, Arsenal must bite the bullet and pay up. Saliba’s future with the club is absolutely critical with any exit being seriously difficult to make up for.
He has become the world’s best young centre-half and will have a queue of clubs looking to sign him. With just one year left on his deal, if Saliba is allowed to leave on a free in 2024, not only will the club have lost their biggest star defender but potentially to a Premier League rival for no financial benefit whatsoever.
They need to pay up or recognise that the price of not doing so will be far greater. Any replacement will cost a massive transfer fee and that’s before even considering player wages.
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