Mikel Arteta has admitted that Arsenal are ‘working on’ new deals for Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli.
Arsenal have enjoyed had a superb start to the season, and currently sit a point clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League after eight games.
Since taking over in 2019, Mikel Arteta has slowly and steadily shaped the Arsenal side in his image, with the largely youthful side sprinkled with experience as the club look to improve on a fifth placed finish last season, and finally return to the Champions League for the first time since 2016/17.
Among the brightest talents within the Gunners side are Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, while William Saliba has finally made his breakthrough into the side after spending the last three seasons on loan in his native France.
Saka, Martinelli and Saliba all currently have just over 18 months to run on their current contracts, and speaking ahead of his side’s Europa League clash against Bodo/Glimt, Arteta revealed that Arsenal technical director Edu is looking to tie them down to new deals.
“Obviously, we have to plan for the future and we are all working on it,” he said at his pre-match press conference.
“Edu is on top of it and all of the board and we’ll try to do things in the right way, being fair, and trying to plan the best possible way and reward the players that in our opinion have a big future for the club.
“When we have something to announce, we will do that.”
Over the years, Arsenal have developed something of a habit in allowing players to run their contracts down into the final 12 months, with players either leaving for free or on the cheap, and Arteta was asked if those days were in the past: “I don’t know,” he said. “Every player is different and what happened in the past, I’m sure the people that were in charge had the right reasons or tried something that was beneficial for the club.
“We will try to do the same thing and make sure that the club is always protected, that the club is always in a good position to move forward and that the players are happy to be here.”
