They may have dropped points on Sunday and lost another player to injury in Noni Madueke, but Arsenal fans finally have something to celebrate this week.
After months of speculation over William Saliba’s future and questions about potential moves to Real Madrid, it has been confirmed that he will sign a new deal with the club.
According to a report from The Athletic’s David Ornstein, the Frenchman will soon put pen to paper on a new five-year deal that should put any speculation over his future to bed.
It’s yet another case of Andrea Berta protecting the club’s best assets, although there is another star worth even more than Saliba, who’ll be needing a renewal of his own soon enough.
Arsenal's recent contract renewals
While most fans were understandably focused on transfers over the summer, Arsenal have also been hard at work tying their best players down to new deals.
The first major contract to be signed was Saliba’s defensive partner, Gabriel Magalhães, who agreed to new terms back in June.
While he might not get the same attention as the Frenchman, the former Lille ace has been instrumental in transforming the Gunners into the best defensive team in the world, and at 27 years old, he is only just heading into his peak.
Later in the same month, Berta secured a deal with the incredibly talented Myles Lewis-Skelly, which should keep him at the club for another five years.
Despite it being his first year of senior football, the Hale Ender ended up making 39 appearances for the first team, including starts against Real Madrid home and away.
While it took a little longer, the North Londoners were also able to secure the future of fellow academy star Ethan Nwaneri.
While he didn’t play quite as much football as Lewis-Skelly, the 18-year-old was still able to score nine goals and provide two assists in 1378 minutes.
However, it must be noted that Saliba’s renewal is the most impactful of all, as it sends a message that this project is far from reaching its peak.
With that said, there is another player in the squad worth millions more than the centre-back who will need his own renewal this time next year.
The Arsenal star worth millions more than Saliba
While Berta has done brilliantly on the renewal front, there are still several key players who need to be secured in the coming months, such as Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.
Market Movers
Football FanCast’s Market Movers series explores the changing landscape of the modern transfer market. How much is your club’s star player or biggest flop worth today?
However, one Arteta signing who’ll need a new contract next summer, and the man in question is Declan Rice.
The former West Ham United captain moved to the Emirates in the summer of 2023, and by this time next season, he will have less than two years remaining on his initial deal.
We have no doubt that the Gunners are already thinking about offering him a new deal, as, in addition to performing brilliantly, he’s still worth an enormous sum of money.
For example, the CIES Football Observatory values him at €100m, which is about £87m.
For comparison’s sake, they also value Saliba at €83.3m, which is about £73m, or £15m less than the Englishman.
Now, that is an extraordinarily large amount for midfiedler, it would be hard to deny that he’s justified over the last couple of years.
For example, the “world-class” international, as dubbed by journalist Tom Marshall-Bailey, has made 110 appearances for the Gunners, totalling 8876 minutes.
In that time, he has scored 16 goals and provided 22 assists, which comes out to an average of a goal or assist involvement every 2.89 games, or every 233.57 minutes.
Appearances
110
Starts
101
Minutes
8876′
Goals
16
Assists
22
Goal Involvements per Match
0.34
Minutes per Goal Involvement
233.57′
More than that, though, he has added some real steel to the Gunners’ midfield and helped make them the team they are today.
Ultimately, while it is an enormous sum of money, Rice has proven that it is more than worth it over the last two years, and we have no doubt Saliba’s value will rise as well.