During the last window I rememeber thinking what's more important than a key signing coming in was tying down Saka, Martineli and Gabriel to long term contracts with all in the dangerous terrority of two years to go. Obviously now Saliba is most cetainly in this category now too.
During the summer, prior to him being tested in the prem you'd have nearly took the 30m we paid for him. That's out the window now. He clearly is the best young cb in the game. Not just merely a prospect either. He already, right now looks one of the best in the game. Some might whine about his lack of experience with age but it doesn't really apply to Saliba. He already has 122 top flight games under his belt. A lot of cb's don't have that until in their mid 20's.
Obviously Saliba holds all the cards now. On top of that I wouldn't be surprised of part of him is still pissed off (rightly) when Arteta had him rotting at the training ground when he didn't include him in the UEFA cup squad a few yeras ago. it's going to take serious money to get this contract signed. He literally is good enough to fight for a place at any team in the world. Everybody must be in talks with his agent already. If it's even feesible I reckon it will take something mental to get this deal over the line. The hightest paid CB in the world plus a £30m of £50m signing on fee.
I could well see this deal not getting done and rather than cash in for maybe 50m with a year to go instead Edu/Arteta look at it as the're prepared to lose him for free knowing they have an elite cb on their books for only 30k a week who could guarantee CL qualification.
So anyway. Get Saliba, Martineli, Saka and Gabriel signed up long term and this squad is ready to fight for everything for years.
