Bukayo Saka has been a revelation since graduating from Arsenal’s Hale End academy in 2019, to the point where he is now viewed as one of the club's most valuable assets.
football.london understands that the Gunners have made extending the current contract of the youngster a major priority ahead of the summer transfer window.
The doubt remains, however, over whether or not Arsenal will be able to convince Saka to commit his future to the club if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.
Kylian Mbappe is also in the midst of contract negotiations with Paris-Saint Germain and according to French outlet Le Parisien, the Ligue 1 side have offered the Frenchman a blockbuster contract with a signing-on bonus of £84 million.
With the Gunners looking to tie Saka down to a new deal, The Arsenal Way look at what they would do with the Englishman’s contract situation and whether they would follow PSG’s Mbappe model.
Tom Canton - Arsenal Fan Brands writer & presenter
There is little argument from me that Mbappe is of equal importance to PSG as Saka is to Arsenal. Mbappe is certainly the superior footballer at present however the impact of both clubs allowing their young talismans to leave would be mirrored.
Both players represent the future of their side’s respective ambitions. Arsenal and PSG both need to ensure they can convince their best players to stay but this is where the two should differ regarding the financial incentive given to those players.
I can understand PSG offering a €100m (£84m) signing-on bonus plus a wage suggested to be around £1m per week across the next two seasons, not only to keep him but to ensure any club wanting him next season would need to pay. The goal is to win the Champions League and losing Mbappe not only weakens the French giants but also strengthens a club that would almost certainly be one of their biggest rivals for the trophy.
A new deal for Saka should be incentivised and with the scope to earn even more the longer he remains with Arsenal. The danger is the likes of Manchester City or Liverpool offer comparatively extortionate wages to tempt Saka into a move to a team consistently fighting for league titles.
However, the emotional attachment Saka so publicly has to Arsenal should give them an edge and there is little reason to panic into a Mbappe-level move to keep their young star.
Bailey Keogh - Arsenal Fan Brands writer & presenter
Saka is Arsenal’s starboy and will be the face of our club for the next decade, so it is a necessity will tie him down with whatever it takes.
Despite back-to-back eighth-placed finishes, Saka has been the brightest spark for the Gunners and is regarded as one of the most important players at the club, so he deserves a major pay rise.
He has the required quality to start for any other side in the Premier League and, if another club does come in for him, then they will also be offering him a blockbuster contract.
If Arsenal want to keep their best players, then it is natural that they will have to spend the premium to extend their contracts.
With the trajectory he is continuing on, Saka will soon be of a similar contract status to Mbappe and if Arsenal are not willing to sanction such deals, it brings into question the ambition of the ownership at the club.
I know we have previous nightmares with offering Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil extremely high wages but the situation is completely different with Saka.
Not only is he much younger than both players, which reduces the risk to a degree, he is also an academy graduate who loves the club, meaning the determination to win trophies weighs over money being the determining factor in contract discussions.
Saka shouldn’t be offered close to the money PSG are currently offering to Mbappe but he does still deserve a significant improvement in terms on his new contract.
Chris Davison - Arsenal Fan Brands writer & presenter
If the mooted figure of £30,000 per week for Saka is correct, then Arsenal have a great opportunity to offer a significantly-improved contract without having to talk silly money.
As we all know, PSG are one of the wealthiest clubs in the world with one of the best players in the world, so the talk of them offering an £84m signing-on bonus along with a wage of £1m per week to Mbappe comes as no surprise.
I think we are in a totally different scenario with Bukayo and Arsenal, however. He's still only 20-years-old, loves the club and is one of the most down-to-earth youngsters in football. There is no way he would expect or even demand the figures mentioned above, not at the moment anyway.
He knows exactly what his side are going through right now. It's been a rebuilding process but the team that is evolving around him along with the fact it is pushing for Champions League football should come as reassurance.
Meanwhile, PSG are already there, thriving to be the best of the best. They know that their European objectives will take a massive dent if they lose Mbappe, hence they are pulling out all the stops. We aren't at that step just yet.
Having exciting talents represent your club will always lead to interest from elsewhere but that's why the Arsenal hierarchy must now present an offer to Bukayo that fairly reflects his worth and importance to the team.
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