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Mikel Arteta has said he would “love” Bukayo Saka to follow William Saliba and agree a new contract with Arsenal.
The contract Saka signed in May 2023 has less than two years remaining and the England forward said before April’s Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid: “I want to win wearing this badge.” But Saka, who returned from a hamstring injury as a substitute against Manchester City last week and started Wednesday’s win over Port Vale in the Carabao Cup, also admitted then that he was in “no rush” to sign a new deal.
Saliba, his central defensive partner Gabriel Magalhães and the teenagers Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri have committed their futures to Arsenal, and Arteta is hopeful that Saka will follow suit.
“I would love that,” he said. “From everything that I know, again he’s a player that is extremely happy and proud to be [here] and to have the role that he has in the football club. He’s been developing in a natural way like they always do. Everyone knows how important Bukayo is for us so hopefully we can do it.”
Saliba has agreed a new long-term deal that will be confirmed in the coming days, having attracted interest from Real Madrid over recent months. Arteta said he had spoken to him about some of the speculation from Spain and been assured the Frenchman was committed to Arsenal.
Referring to speculation from Spain over Saliba’s future, Arteta said: “When you hear that noise you can understand certain expectations. Players have feelings, maybe dreaming about something one day, and that’s a really natural thing to have. When I sat down with William and I asked him the question, he said: ‘No, I want to stay here, I want to play for you and I’m very happy’ – in his own way – so that’s great to hear.”
On Sunday Arsenal are at Newcastle, where they have lost on four of their past five visits, and Arteta acknowledged it would be a test of their title credentials.
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“I always praise the work that Eddie [Howe] and the coaching staff have done there and the way they have managed to create such an atmosphere, especially at home as well, and a very clear identity of playing football,” he said. “And they make it really difficult. We know that we’re going to have to be much more efficient than we’ve been lately when we played up there to win the game. We’re going to work on that in the next two days.”
