Arsenal player a ‘STANDOUT in world football’ – Real Madrid scouts rave over Gunners star

Robin Bairner

• 18 Apr 2024 06:38 BST
• 4 min read

Arsenal possess a player who Real Madrid scouts believe is the “standout” player in world football, according to a report.

William Saliba has emerged as an ambitious transfer target for the Champions League semi-finalists, according to HITC, which indicates that Los Blancos want the 23-year-old to join their growing French colony at the Bernabeu.

Real Madrid have signed Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni over the past couple of summers to add to Ferland Mendy in the Spanish capital, while Kylian Mbappe is destined to join Los Blancos on a free transfer in the summer.

READ MORE: Champions League top scorers 2023/24

STATS

William Saliba

D (C)

Arsenal FC

William Saliba

D (C)

Arsenal FC

All Tournaments

2023/24

• 38

  Games

• 2

  Goals

• 1

  Assists

View all stats

Saliba, though, may prove a harder transfer target than even the PSG star, who grew up supporting the club, with his bedroom wall covered with images of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Madrid are seeking to add a centre-back to their ranks over the course of the next couple of years, with the 34-year-old Nacho regularly used this season following injuries to David Alaba and Eder Militao, who is now stepping slowly back into action.

The Arsenal ace, then, is a long-term target rather than a player who is under immediate threat of departing.

READ MORE: 10 players who could join Arsenal this summer

The feeling is that with Mbappe and potentially Alphonso Davies joining the club from Bayern Munich, Real Madrid will not be able to complete another blockbuster deal immediately.

Indeed, it is stated that there is “no suggestion” of a transfer this summer, but it is stressed, however, that there is a strong admiration for Saliba.

“Real Madrid scouts have been ‘hugely impressed’ with the young French star and issued some glowing reports on him this season and they feel he is one of the stand-out defenders in world football,” the report indicates.

Saliba already one of the world’s best

Real Madrid have their assessment correct.

Data analytics firm SciSport believes that Saliba has the capacity to become not just the best centre-back in world football, but the best player.

Indeed, the experts already believe that statistically, the Arsenal man is the second-best central defender in the game, trailing only Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni based on their SciSkill metric, which is calculated using hundreds of in-game data points.

With Arsenal a club on the rise and financially secure, getting them to sell Saliba, who is under contract until 2027 promises to be an immense challenge.