William Saliba on Arsenal signing ‘scary’ Gyokeres, his own future and ‘unbelievable’ youngster Dowman | OneFootball

William Saliba says he is relieved to now be on the same side as Viktor Gyokeres – admitting the striker is “scary” to play against.

The Arsenal defender came up against the Swedish striker, who has completed a £63m move to the Emirates, last season when the Gunners faced Sporting CP in the Champions League.

“We know how good he is, it’s scary to play against him,” said Saliba. “Of course, I’m so happy to have him in my club, and I’m sure that he will help us to win games and win trophies.”

Pressed on what makes him “scary”, the Frenchman smiled: “Because when you face a striker who scores goals, you have to be focused! But now he’s in our team and he will score for us, so that’s good.”

Gyokeres linked up with his new teammates in Singapore on Sunday, watching on as Arsenal beat Newcastle 3-2 in a friendly.

Saliba also discussed his own future, with the Frenchman in talks over a new contract at the club.

His current deal expires in 2027 and his performances for Arsenal have already piqued the interest of Real Madrid and PSG.

“Yeah, hopefully,” he said when asked about the possibility of signing a new deal. “There is nothing now but there is a good conversation with my agent and the club. Let’s see.”

And Saliba praised Arsenal’s ambition in the transfer market and believes the Premier League title is within reach, with the Gunners having added six new faces so far this summer.

“Our mindset is to win the Premier League and we will give everything from the first game,” he said. “We have a lot of new players and they will hopefully help us to win this league.”

He also picked out 15-year-olds Max Dowman and Marli Salmon for special praise after their involvement in pre-season.

“They are unbelievable,” he said. “Of course they are young, we mustn’t put pressure on them, but to play the way they play at 15! I remember when I was 15, I was not playing with the first team. I was with the U-17s, so it’s good.”

“We have to protect them and give them support, but of course, they are really, really good players, and I hope they will help us as soon as possible.”

Reflecting on the trip so far, Saliba added:“There are a lot of positive things. We played two games; we won two games. There are also a lot of things to improve, but of course we have to keep going like that. We have three games left before the Premier League, so we have to keep going and keep winning games.”

“Pressure is good, that means we are in a good place. If we are not good we don’t have pressure. We play football to have pressure.”