“Why not?” says Saliba when asked about long-term Arsenal future amid Real Madrid interest | OneFootball

Arsenal’s formidable central defender William Saliba has reaffirmed his long-term commitment to the club, delivering a confident “why not?” when asked if his future remains in North London.

The 23-year-old’s conviction follows a standout performance in the 2-0 victory over Manchester United, where he found the net and helped reduce the gap to league leaders Liverpool to seven points.

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Saliba, who joined Arsenal five years ago and has been integral to Mikel Arteta’s side, sees the Emirates as home despite reported interest from Real Madrid.

He said: “Yeah of course, I feel at home” when asked if he saw himself staying at the club for the ‘long-haul’. “I signed for the club five years ago but it’s only my third season and I’m enjoying everything – the players, the staff and the fans, so why not?”

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Asked about playing with Gabriel, Saliba said, “Since the day I first playedwith him, I’ve enjoyed every game. He’s a massive, massive defender that is so good in every aspect.

“But if we want to be all-time great defenders, who everyone remembers, we have to win some trophies. We haven’t done it yet.

“Since we’ve been back [after the international break], we’ve been playing better football and we have to keep going.

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“We’re so happy to be scoring goals but we are conceding a lot of goals as well. It’s not good enough, especially last weekend against West Ham when we were winning 4-0 – we didn’t have to concede two goals just after taking that lead.

“I think we have to do much better defensively.

“We experienced a tough moment there but Mikel helped us through and gave us confidence.”

The French international also believes top spot is still within reach, insisting the Premier League title race is far from settled.

He said: “Everything is possible. The season is very long and we’ve experienced that in the past two years. We just have to focus on ourselves, we are still only in December, so there are still a lot of things that can happen.”

Saliba is currently under contract with Arsenal until 2027 and is valued at around €80m.