Saliba not ready for Real Madrid transfer, claims ex-Arsenal star

Suraj Radia

18 Apr 2025 08:15 CDT
4 min read

William Saliba needs to win a trophy before he is ready to leave Arsenal for Real Madrid according to a former star of both clubs.

Saliba is believed to be among Real’s top targets to strengthen in defence, with the Spanish giants aiming to make a long-term pursuit of the Frenchman.

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Current ETV

William Saliba

D (C)

Arsenal

William Saliba

D (C)

Arsenal

ETV Range

€59.6M - €99.4M

While Real are ideally hoping that Saliba will run the final two years of his contract down, they are aware that a big money transfer for the 24-year-old is more realistic, although ex-Arsenal loanee Julio Baptista believes the defender should focus on winning trophies with the Gunners first.

“A lot has changed for players now. Before you get to a huge club like Real Madrid, you need to show more,” Baptista told Foot Italia. “It’s not like five, ten games to show what you can do. You need to be one of the best players in the world season after season to earn the respect and the interest of a club like Real Madrid.

“I think for Saliba, there is no doubt that he is one of the world’s best CBs. He’s been a big part of Arsenal’s improvement over the years and has formed a formidable partnership alongside Gabriel, but I would like to see him lift a trophy with Arsenal before he leaves.

“If Saliba can keep showing that he has incredible quality, maybe we’ll see Real Madrid coming for him in the future, but he should only be thinking about winning trophies and becoming a champion with Arsenal at the moment.”

Champions League success could make Saliba ‘the best’

Baptista played for three seasons with Real Madrid while also spending the 2006/07 season on loan at Arsenal and the Brazilian believes his former side can go onto win the Champions League after defeating Los Blancos in the quarter-final.

Such an achievement would undoubtedly secure Saliba’s status as one of the world’s top defenders, with the French international himself also having previously insisted that he needed to attain silverware before being considered among football’s elite.

© IMAGO - William Saliba is wanted by Real Madrid.

“I have been on the right track for the past two seasons, especially last season,” Saliba said last year.

“I am perhaps on my way to becoming the best defender in the world. I think I am one of the best at the moment, but to say that I have to win some titles. I think that is what I am missing right now.

"If you win titles you are good and if you don't, you can't say you are the best. That's what I believe. I am one of the best in the world."

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