William Saliba is the latest first-team star Arsenal want to tie down with a new contract given his current deal has just two years left to run.
The player's agent Niang Djibril uploaded an interesting video to his Instagram stories which has sparked excitement among the Gunners fanbase, who believe contract talks have started between the two parties. Djibril's video showed the room in which the club announce all of their contract extensions and new arrivals at their London Colney training ground.
With the gold club crest hanging proudly on the wall, the Arsenal faithful have already seen Saliba holding the club jersey once in that very same setting when he first joined the side - though that proved to be a false dawn, hopes are high things will be different this time around.
Saliba's fresh start also appears to include a new squad number, with the club noticeably omitting the section of his training shirt showing his number from pictures of him in pre-season training in a further hint of a change on the way.
The France international could put pen to paper on a new deal with the Gunners despite his unorthodox start to life in north London, which has never really actually got started. Saliba first joined the club in the summer of 2019 under then-manager Unai Emery, but three years down the line he is yet to make a competitive appearance for the club.
Instead, he has embarked on three separate loan spells at three different French clubs, including the outfit Arsenal purchased him from in Saint-Etienne. The most recent temporary move away from the Gunners came at Marseille, where linked up with now ex-Emirates star Matteo Guendouzi.
At just 21 years of age, Saliba has earned himself quite the reputation as one of the most highly-rated young central defenders on the continent through his performances in Ligue 1 and the France national side. The former OGC Nice loanee played his way into the French league's team of the season.
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The fact Arsenal's hierarchy are being proactive and trying to extend Saliba's deal before it becomes a major talking point will be welcome news from the supporters perspective. There has long been serious fears he could leave the club without playing a single game.
Those fears only increased this time last summer when Saliba's temporary switch to Marseille came around the same he was stripped of his original squad number. The Frenchman was handed the number four in 2019, the number now occupied by £50million man and fellow centre-back Benjamin White.
However, the club have since teased Saliba's new squad number in their latest set of pictures of the defender's pre-season return. Rumours have been rife that the centre-back is expected to inherit the number two shirt - currently occupied by wantaway right-back Hector Bellerin.
