William Saliba explains why he didn’t follow Trent to Madrid | OneFootball

William Saliba says he wouldn’t consider leaving Arsenal for Real Madrid or anyone else because he wants to win everything with the Gunners first.

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William Saliba officially extended his Arsenal contract to 2030 this week, despite reliable reports of interest from Real Madrid.

Real Madrid have started to make a habit of convincing players to run down their contracts before leaving for a minimal fee, as in the case of Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool.

When asked on Tuesday whether Saliba had seriously considered following in Alexander-Arnold’s footsteps, the defender suggested he’s not going to leave Arsenal without lifting a major trophy.

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“As you said, he won some titles with Liverpool,” Saliba pointed out. “Me? I didn’t win anything here except the Community Shield, only Community Shield.

“So yeah, I’ve done nothing for this club to think about leaving. I want to stay here and win a lot of trophies.

“I love this club, I cannot leave this club without giving them something back. I won nothing, so my first choice was to stay here and win everything first.”

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The good news for Arsenal fans is that they have quite a long time to win some trophies with Saliba. Even if the Gunners win major honours this season, the centre-back will still have another four years on his contract afterwards.

There’s no prospect of Real Madrid luring Saliba away on a free transfer until 2030 at the earliest, by which point the defender will be 29. If they want him before that, they’d probably have to invest a major fee.