Arsenal should not be considering any bids of under £100m for Real Madrid-linked William Saliba during the summer transfer window, Gunners expert Charles Watts feels.
The Gunners are facing a critical decision when it comes to the Frenchman's future, as his contract is up in the summer of 2027, although The Athletic claims that sporting director Andrea Berta has now opened talks with his camp over a new deal.
Both Saliba and Mikel Arteta have talked up the France international's happiness in North London, but the Real Madrid pull can be hard to ignore, as Liverpool have discovered with the exit of boyhood star Trent Alexander-Arnold on a free transfer.
Asked by Sports Mole whether Arsenal should consider selling Saliba this summer if there are suggestions that he will not sign a new contract, Watts did not shoot down the prospect, but he expects Los Blancos to wait and see whether the 24-year-old will become available on the cheap rather than making a move now.
"There is definitely an argument [to sell]," Watts said. "Arsenal are in a really difficult position here. Whenever Real Madrid come calling, the club whose player it is is in a really tough position, because you don't know exactly what the player is telling you, or the representatives are telling you about exactly what's going on behind the scenes.
"I fully expect what Real Madrid will be telling the player is 'go along with it, say you're open to contract talks but just drag it out'. Then it gets to a point where it's either take it on the cheap with a year left or wait for free, like we've seen with Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool. This summer is going to be really really important.
Real Madrid will "happily wait" for cheap Saliba deal
"Saliba is happy at Arsenal. He's really enjoying it here. I don't see Arsenal selling him this summer barring a ridiculous offer, which to be fair I don't see Real Madrid doing because it's not how they operate. The days of them spending that sort of money is gone. They'll happily wait and get him cheaper so this is the summer to really attack, get him tied down to a contract.
"It's going to be a tough job for Andrea Berta. He's got no relationship with Saliba's people. Edu had one, but it's starting from scratch, so Arteta is going to have a key role. It would be a real boost if they could get Saliba tied down this summer and not let this go into the final year, but the pessimistic side of me feels like this could end up being one of those Real Madrid sagas.
"It's impossible as an Arsenal fan to not be worried by what might happen, and also the club have to start protecting themselves as well and thinking 'well, if this is going to happen, what can we do now to try and make it easier if he was to go?'".
Saliba was signed by Arsenal when Unai Emery was still at the helm in 2019, but the Frenchman was loaned out to Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille before finally being given the chance to prove his worth to Arteta.
The centre-back's terrific exploits in France led to fears among the Arsenal fanbase that he could return to his homeland permanently, but he chose to stay and make a name for himself in the Premier League and has done just that.
With seven goals and two assists from 132 games in all competitions, Saliba has played a significant role in Arsenal's rise to genuine Premier League title challengers, but he only has two Community Shields to show for his time in North London.
Arsenal sent £100m transfer demand for Real Madrid-linked Saliba
© Imago
History suggests major trophies will be easier to come by at Real Madrid, but Watts has demanded that Los Blancos cough up at least £100m for Saliba, which would represent a new world-record fee for a centre-back.
"I don't see how you could sell the best young centre back in the world for anything less than £100m in today's market," he added. "Even that feels maybe not quite his market value, because the sky's the limit.
"He's not had the best of seasons. There have been errors there - Gabriel has certainly outshone him - but given his age, the quality, the ceiling he has, you would not be entertaining anything less than £100m in my view but maybe even more than that in terms of true market value. But I just don't see Real Madrid paying that.
"The only thing that makes me think maybe they would is having a new manager coming in. Do they want a real marquee signing to to kick that off? William Saliba would be certainly a marquee signing, but I hope he signs a new contract. I hope Arsenal can continue to build with him and Gabriel, because that's just a fabulous partnership to build your success on.
"I hope it doesn't happen, but it's got the ingredients of being one of those Real Madrid transfer sagas which we've seen play out so many times before with so many players."
Josko Gvardiol's €90m (£76.1m) move from RB Leipzig to Manchester City in 2023 remains the world-record fee for a defender, eclipsing the €87m (£73.6m) that Manchester United have so far coughed up for Harry Maguire.
Ben Knapton
