- 15 hours ago
‘All I know is…’ – Romano on Saliba to Real Madrid rumours
Robin Bairner
- 10 Oct 2024 14:03 BST
- 5 min read
Fabrizio Romano has revealed the latest regarding rumours that Real Madrid have made Arsenal defender William Saliba their top transfer target for summer 2025.
A report in France earlier this week indicated that Los Blancos are ready to put the France international top of their shortlist ahead of next summer.
Real Madrid have been beset by injury problems in the middle of their defence lately, with David Alaba now not expected back until 2025, and with this in mind are ready to splash out on a centre-back.
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Current ETV
William Saliba
D (C)
Arsenal
William Saliba
D (C)
Arsenal
ETV Range
€59.6M - €99.4M
Carlo Ancelotti’s side have a policy of making one blockbuster signing per summer and have put money aside to make another big deal next year.
Football transfer news expert Romano, though, does not believe there is anything advanced in this case.
“A story that keeps coming up at the moment is William Saliba and a possible move away from Arsenal - in recent weeks we’ve heard a few times about Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, but I can honestly say I have no confirmation of any of this, including on the claim that Real Madrid contacted Saliba’s entourage,” he wrote for the Daily Briefing.
“I’m not aware of anything concrete at this stage - all I know is that Saliba is fully focused on Arsenal, while Arsenal obviously also consider Saliba as a key part of their project, nothing else.”
Romano did confirm, however, that Real Madrid are exploring their options in this area of the field after missing out on Leny Yoro last summer, with the Lille centre-back having moved instead to Manchester United.
Saliba, meanwhile, has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €79.5 million, making him the Gunners' third most valuable player behind Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka.
Jorginho’s Arsenal future
Romano also passed comment on claims that Jorginho is thinking about his future.
“I can say that the situation is that Jorginho is only thinking about this season. It’s an important season for Arsenal, I don’t think all these links for Jorgi, Saliba etc are genuine and are good for the club… it’s only the beginning of October, the season started just 50 days ago,” he said.
“Jorginho’s full focus is on present, on Arsenal, not on moving into coaching and not on making the move to Saudi.”
