Arsenal battling to keep hold of defender William Saliba this summer

William Saliba has a couple of years left on his Arsenal contract.

Arsenal are planning to keep William Saliba and extend his contract this summer. The centre-back is getting interest from the various clubs in Europe.

According to the reports of L’Equipe (via GFFN), Arsenal plan to keep William Saliba this summer and extend his contract.

Atletico Madrid, Leicester City, Napoli, and Newcastle United have all made enquiries for the player, but Mikel Arteta is keen to keep him.

Saliba has a couple of years left on his Arsenal contract, and he knows this is a big moment for him with the World Cup coming up this winter.

Arteta said: “He has to come back. He has the experience and the necessary environment to be competitive with us.

“If he had stayed with us this year, with one Premier League game a week and with Ben White and Gabriel, he wouldn’t have had half the game time he had with Marseille, that’s for sure.

“In terms of his growth and what he could do next year, it wouldn’t have been good. William wasn’t with us because he wouldn’t have had the playing time required to gain experience. That’s it, nothing else.”

Arteta now needs to back up his words with actions, giving Saliba consistent chances on the pitch.

See More: