William Saliba’s entourage have ‘responded positively’ after being sounded out by Real Madrid over a proposed transfer move to the Bernabeu.
The 23-year-old has established himself as one of the most sought-after defenders in European football having joined Arsenal from Saint-Etienne back in 2019.
In that time, Saliba has made 109 appearances in all competitions for the Gunners, but has so far failed get his hands on any silverware, outside of the club’s two Community Shield titles in 2020 and 2023.
Madrid’s pursuit of Saliba has been well documented – and in the works for some time – and the La Liga champions are not alone in their interest, with rumours circulating that Arsenal have already rejected a sizeable bid from Paris Saint-Germain for the Frenchman.
According to Spanish publication Sport, Madrid have identified Saliba as their ‘priority’ in defence, fully aware that they must ‘break all records’ to land the defender.
Madrid are also prepared to break the bank at full-back, where Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies are being targeted.
It’s claimed that while Arsenal have ‘no intention’ of selling Saliba at this stage, a deal is not impossible and Madrid have received a ‘positive response’ from the centre-back’s camp.
The report adds that the idea – from Madrid’s perspective – is to ‘get the player to request a transfer’ after presenting an offer upwards of €100million (£83m), a price that would break all records for a defender.
Saliba’s current contract at the Emirates runs through to the summer of 2027.
It’s claimed Kylian Mbappe’s presence in the Spanish capital could aid Madrid’s move given the two players grew up together in Bondy and share a great relationship. Mbappe’s father, Wilfrid, took Saliba under his wing while coaching AS Bondy’s youth teams.
"He was a good coach and he really helped me at this age… he told the truth – even if you were young," Saliba said of Wilfrid Mbappe’s influence during an interview with Mail Online in 2023.
The message he told me was: "Yeah, you’re a good striker but I think you will become a defensive midfielder".
"I was a good scorer, I was strong, I was technical as well. My worst quality was maybe that I was lazy and I was nonchalant."
Back in October, Madrid centre-half Antonio Rudiger, formerly of Chelsea, named Saliba as one of the finest defenders in world football.
Asked to pick out some of his favourite current defenders, Rudiger told The Inside Scoop: "Saliba, and I like Gabriel from Arsenal as well. If you see Arsenal, like the two centre-backs who are playing together, they are doing since two years now, they’re doing an amazing job."
"Like the transformation from Arsenal, that was a bit before and now, and those two are the pillar of it. You have with Gabriel the more aggressive leader and for example Saliba is, this brother plays clean. No, really, you have to give it to him. You know, he looks like a silent leader."
On the prospect of playing alongside Saliba at Madrid in the future, Rudiger replied: "I am not scaring anybody but at the end of the day, it’s clear, if he keeps doing what he’s doing."