Andrea Berta’s number one priority at Arsenal now that the transfer window is closed is tying William Saliba and Bukayo Saka down to new contracts, Arsenal Insider understands.
The Italian sporting director was busy in the market over the summer, signing eight players to bolster Mikel Arteta’s squad.
The likes of Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi and Eberechi Eze all arrived in big-money moves, while the Gunners also added several players to improve the depth of the Spaniard’s ensemble.
Piero Hincapie was the latest to arrive in N5, joining from Bayer Leverkusen on deadline day, and now Berta will turn his attention to convincing star players to commit their futures to the North London club.
Arsenal are ‘very hopeful’ of extending the contracts of William Saliba and Bukayo Saka
Saka and Saliba are arguably Arsenal’s two most important players.
The former carries the Gunners’ attack, while the latter is one of the best defenders in world football and a big reason behind Arteta’s side’s defensive stability.
Thus, ensuring both stars remain a part of the next stages of the club’s project is of paramount importance.
According to Capology, Saka is currently earning a base wage of £195,000-a-week, with his current deal expiring in 2027.
Meanwhile, Saliba’s contract also runs for another two years, with the Frenchman earning £190,000-a-week.
Both players are due a significant pay increase, and both need to be renewed before clubs start looking to tempt them away from the Emirates.
Transfer expert Graeme Bailey told Arsenal Insider that Berta is now focused on getting these new deals sorted, and that the North Londoners are ‘confident’ they’ll be able to do so.
“As a club, they remain very hopeful of extending both players,” he said.
“We’ll have to see where they go with it. They’ve had initial talks, and they firmly believe and feel they’re putting themselves in that bracket of being up there with anything in Europe.
“They believe they can prove to both players that this is the club for them for the future. It’s a bit early at the moment, but they are planning talks and it’s Berta’s number one priority now the window has closed.
“My understanding is that they would like both players to commit before December, so we’ll see how this progresses in the coming weeks.”
Bukayo Saka should be Arsenal’s highest earner
Reports emerged in May suggesting that Saka could be set to earn £300,000-a-week at Arsenal.
This would make him the Gunners’ highest earner by some distance, usurping Kai Havertz, who is currently earning a purported £280,000-a-week.
Saka has been Arsenal’s most productive player for some time now, consistently contributing goals and assists in the final third.
Clearly the talisman for Arteta’s team, the Hale End graduate deserves a salary in the range of the reported figures.
Players at a similar level, such as Mo Salah and Florian Wirtz, are earning considerably more than he is at this present moment, and thus, the Gunners need to move quickly to offer him drastically improved terms, otherwise they risk him being seduced by another club.
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