Mikel Arteta says Arsenal are determined to keep Bukayo Saka for the long-term with the player’s importance deemed “unquestionable”.
The England international has two years left to run on his current contract and the Gunners are keen to tie him down to a new deal sooner rather than later with both Liverpool and Manchester City rumoured to be monitoring his situation.
Raised at Hale End, the 20-year-old is the poster boy of Mikel Arteta’s rebuild project at the Emirates but could be tempted to leave if more money and Champions League football is on offer elsewhere.
For the moment, the boss is bullish about negotiations, which could well start before the end of the season.
Asked if Saka needs Arsenal to be playing at the highest level to commit, Arteta said: “I don’t know. It’s a conversation we’re going to have with the player internally and then with his environment, his agent, his family, who are going to be extremely important, so everybody is on board.
“Obviously, our desire is to keep Bukayo as long as possible because we are really happy, he’s part of our club, he’s our DNA, he’s growing, he’s maturing, his importance in the team is unquestionable and we want to keep our best talent at the club, that’s for sure.”
Arteta also reflected on the difficulties of trying to challenge at the top of the table while developing young players and the need to resist short-term fixes with big-money buys in the transfer market.
“You try to build a squad where you have room for those players to develop and the other one is to have those players developing while we’re extremely competitive,” he said.
“If you sign three top players and those kids start not to play, what happens? You cannot have it both ways, guys. If you sign big players with big money, the money has to be on the pitch, which means that these players are not going to be on the pitch.
“We need to find our balance but with the standards, this club requires, which is to be the best. This is what we’re trying to do. But without killing what is growing and is growing the right way because they have the right environment to do it.”
Ahead of this evening’s clash with Wolves, Saka spoke to Sky Sports about his Arsenal journey and how he came to choose the club when he was 7-years-old.
“I think Arsenal was always the one I wanted to go to,” he said.
“It seemed like they had a lot of faith in their youth and there was a clear pathway when you could see the players coming up from Hale End to London Colney and my dad also really believed in the project and he loved Arsene Wenger. I think Arsenal was the club in the hearts of my family, so we chose them.”
Here’s hoping Saka’s roots at the club play to our advantage. It would be a terrible blow to lose him.
Keep him at all cost
But we don’t know what he’s thinking. I’m about 85% sure he’ll want to explore this journey a little further. But he could be all about the silverware. If he is, a move to City would be the logical step. And if he wants that, as much as it pains me to say it, it would make optimal sense for us to sell this summer. But I really can’t see that happening. And it would need to be in the £150m area. If that bum Kane is worth that, then Saka is too. But I’m sure he’s willing to give… Read more »
I agree. He’s settled and developing well at Arsenal. He’s got time on his side – if he’s sensible, as he appears to be, surely now is not quite yet the time to derail his progress and risk sitting on the City bench etc
Also, and maybe this is just me, I would never want to play for City under Pep. Bar KDB, Diaz and Cancelo, the whole team gets constantly rotated. If Saka went there he would start about 50% of games. And that sucks. Yeah, you get a decent winning medal haul. But most footballers want to play football and Pep doesn’t really allow that for prolonged periods. Just to add another worry to our list of worries, I don’t think we need to overly worry about the Hale End lads. They bleed red and white. But Martinelli is already being flirted… Read more »
Saka will 100% stay at Arsenal till he’s 24 at least.
Any other thing else from there will be a factor of where we are as a club and if he’s someone that just loves exploring options and adventuring.
Anyways, I just want him to improve and become a household name.
Its all plastic trophies at city Bukayo if you’re reading this
You are sure of opposites happening. Interesting math here.
2 questions Bukayo
1) how much do you want?
2) how long for?
Problem is, you pay him 300k a week. Then ESR walks into contract negotiations and wants 250k. Martinelli wants 275k. Odegaard feels under valued and wants 280k. Partey is suddenly earning way less than these kids and wants a new deal. Maybe captain Tierney now feels he’s surely worth 250k.
And on and on ad nauseam. It’s a tough one. But you do have to try and keep him as low as possible without turning his head.
Don’t let us down Dickie Garlick.
Great point.
How much do you want + £1? Hahaha
If you don’t pay £300k a week, £15.6m a year, £62m over 4 years – you most likely have to pay a transfer fee & wages for a replacement for someone who you can’t say for certain will be as good or anything like it. It’s a no brainer both financially and in football terms for Arsenal to retain quality players, if they want to stay!! 🤞🤞🤞🤞
If they are all worth paying that much at the same time, then it means we have already won both the PL and CL.
In the ideal world he would stay forever. If his ability outpaces the clubs ability to challenge at the champions league then he will inevitably go. I just hope he’s sensible enough to keep signing contracts so if City/Liverpool/Barca etc want him then they need to put a big offer in and not just wait until a contract runs down.
It probably wouldn’t be in his financial interest to stay and keep signing contracts but if he loves the club surely he’d know the damage that running a contract down would do.
All positive words, but historically the predicate to a high profile player not signing a new deal, followed by the sadly familiar waffle of AFC doing nothing until the player leaves on a free. I hope we can keep him, but we’ll need to prove we mean business my significantly improving the squad in the summer. In my eyes, that’s the only way he signs on. As things stand now, professionally, who would blame him for leaving?
Well said.
Ignore the downvoters, they still believe in the tooth fairy.
So much of this anti-Arsenal fanfiction misses the point. And Arteta’s point – which is you can’t both give starboys like Saka room to grow while also buying superstars in every position. “As things stand” he was developed by the club from the age of 7, given a first team debut at 18, which led to him starring for his country at a major international tournament before he even turned 20. During that time he’s benched the club’s record signing and become an iconic figure to the fanbase. Professionally, he has the talent and ability to create his own legend… Read more »
Very well said; not a word out of place.
Quite naive, aren’t you?
You might want to have a word with Saka’s agent then, especially if we finish out of the top four.
It’s not that he doesn’t have any reason to stay, it’s that other clubs can offer more money and CL football. AFC are not a top tier club anymore. Get over it.
One of the main reasons to hope for a top 4 finish this season. This kid deserves to play Champions League football, no doubt. I absolutely hope we – including him – will be able to offer him that.
The good news is that United and Sp*rs look determined to help us, God bless them.
I was genuinely surprised at how bad Spurs were, given Conte’s reputation and how they have just had a long period of training. Completely dominated–at home–by Southampton. No creativity in midfield, difficulty playing out, entirely reliant on turnovers/fast counters through Son, Kane, and Moura. They still might have won because football is like that, but they are not anywhere near as good the teams around them, including us.
Conte’s reputation means nothing in this context.
What does have meaning is: “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.”.
I doubt we will have much trouble renewing his contract come July but I do question how long he will remain with us if we are not making significant strides into CL territory soon.
Extend him by another 4/5 years and if he wants to leave in another two, good luck to him…but Edu and Garlick best negotiate a hefty fee!
Their job must be to improve our negotiating strength and our general transfer perception across the whole of Europe, which is frankly in the toilet these days. We’ve looked weak for years.
What would you sell for? If someone offered 200 million pounds would you sell?
I don’t want to lose him obviously, just curious what people think he’s worth.
5 billion pounds, which we would then put towards ending world hunger. That’s the only way I would be okay with him leaving us for another club – anything less and there would be no silver linings, nothing but heartbreak. He’s a gem. Hope he stays with us the next 6-8 years at least. For that to happen clearly we need to continue strengthening our squad, working towards performing to the standard expected of Arsenal, and worthy of keeping him (and ESR) – just as they both need to keep developing and maturing.
Interested to see what others think.
If Saka leaves, after all the bread and circuses we’ve had to put up with from the manager, then we might all just as well pack up and go home
I think even £200 million wouldn’t be enough, given the psychological damage it would do this club. Would any player worth his salt want to join this present Arsenal side without Saka…? The answer is no.
It’s bad enough that we couldn’t persuade Vlahovic to join us while we’ve still got Saka on the books.
It hurts when a favourite player leaves, then another one comes along.
I would sell for 200 without batting an eyelid lol. A fair fee for Saka now I reckon would be around 70/80mill. Yes, you could get more, Grealish’s price will be referenced…but we all knew City overpaid for him. Barca overpaid for Coutinho, PSG overpaid for Neymar etc… Its becoming more obvious, value for money is not what it was and is far less predictable. The financial collapse of 2009 that has stagnated things for 12 years and now the covid financial mess added on top, I dont think the bubble has burst, but its been punctured at least. How… Read more »
Some things in life are priceless, for everything else there’s Mastercard. Bukayo is beyond a price, he’s our future.
If he remains for his best years, i’ll love him but I refuse to get attached to players these days. They’re all mercs in the end.
Fair enough, thats just the way the market has developed, and its shit.
i donth think psg overpaid for neymar tho…considering all he has won with them…nd his stats ofcourse. took them to ucl finals nd semis….surely should not be mentioned among yhose flops.
Not won the CL with PSG let alone twice (which you would/could expect for such an outlay).
Hes not anything close to the best player in the world either so absolutely 100% way overpaid.
Sell for 200m and buy 5 Odegaard’s! Sounds like a plan 😁
I agree, other than on Saka’s valuation. He’s more important to the England team than Grealish. I would put his price at this age at a bit over £100M.
Saka is worth 150 million pounds.
When I saw reports that Liverpool were sniffing around Saka, I thought: “They’ll have to have a spare £200M lying about, as that’s what he’ll cost.” So for £200M, I would sell. I don’t want him to go, but everyone has a price. That money would go a long way to making the right upgrades in key areas. Look at how the sale of Coutinho took Liverpool to the next level. The days when players stay at the same club all their careers are long gone. Arsenal’s strategy has got to be to develop the players we need in-house, coupled… Read more »
I highlighted this very real issue the other day and was dubbed as someone who “wanted Arsenal to lose” for my trouble. (How’s life in cloud cuckoo land going Minty?)
If we don’t get top four, then the vultures will be circling.
No pressure, Arteta.
Time to deliver, mate.
If Liverpool sell Salah and come in hard with a ‘come and be the new Salah’, it’s going to be really difficult.
Personally I think it makes sense for him to stay and grow with us. It’s up to us to ensure we continue to progress on that time.
That is the scariest and most likely scenario for him leaving this summer. They do have Luis Diaz but he’s a right footed left wing. Maybe we can dress up Pepe in a mini afro and send him to Klopp for a cool 100 million.
Great point.
If you were Saka, who would you want to play for, MA or Klopp?
(I hate liverpool, btw. Loathe their entitled, shmarmy supporters as well.)
scariest headline ever
Those of us who remember the club losing Liam Brady and Frank Stapleton in their early 20’s will recall how a lack of ambition cost us two world class talents. We was told by those running the club shortly afterwards (David Dein) that it wouldn’t be allowed to happen again so don’t just talk the talk Tim Lewis and KSE…
He’d be a fool to go to a giant club. Harsh but true. He’s just not good enough yet to start at a City/Liverpool/Madrid whatever. He’d go there for big money and sit on the bench. The big team will then move him on to a Roma type after 2-3 frustrating seasons. He’ll go on to shine there, English clubs will renew their interest. And maybe he works his way back to England. The only thing he’d have to show for it is a bunch more money and less caps than if he’d stayed at Arsenal.
He’d be a sure-fire starter at each of those clubs.
I think he would not start every match at City (just as Sterling, Mahrez, etc. don’t). Everywhere else (including England), first eleven.
As good as he is and as lucky as we are to have him he’s not the finished product. He needs to refine his finishing and decision making. In a couple years he may be able to slot in anywhere. I don’t see it right now though.
I think he has an immense amount of talent and potential. But he still needs to develop quite a bit. All the signs are there but he would definitely have a Hazard career if he leaves now.
Seems likely an extension will happen. I imagine a clause like $100 million buyout clause which drops to $60 million after 2 years if club is not playing in Champions league. On another note, does anyone know why I cannot find “Invincibles” on either appletv or Prime when all manner of articles say that both offer it as a streaming documentary? I predict a goal today by 2 of the 3 Pepe, ESR and Martinelli. Lacazette will have a very good game, like always. Also really eager to see if Partey can pick up where he left off because he… Read more »
Losing quality players like Saka will be an inevitable consequence of Stan’s lack of ambition. If we behave like a mid-table team then our players will treat us like one. You can’t blame the likes of Saka, ESR and Martinelli for wanting to move on to a club capable of winning the big ones, wouldn’t you?
If we don’t get top four this season it will be criminal. Spuds and Manure are practically giving it to us: they are both utter dogpoo. We are in a great position now: we absolutely must take our chance.
I’m so tired of you.
I am tired of “fourth-is-a-trophy” losers who’ve allowed Stan and his son to take the p out of us for years.
Bukayo Saka the best player on the team. He is the best U-21 player in Europe. He will be one of the best in the world in a couple of years and the ownership must open their eyes to what this means in terms of staving off the competition and keeping him at the club for the prime of his, sure to be outstanding, career.
Don’t see us selling Saka tbh, at least not yet. Liverpool will try and tie down Salah and have Harvey Elliot coming through, City have plenty of players in that position. And it would cost both of them a fortune to get him. He’s the main man at Arsenal and is only 20. The only thing I’d be worried about is repeating the mistake United did with Rashford, giving him too much money too soon, he’s not been the same player since.
Saka is awesome and deserves Champions League football.
If Mikel fails to deliver it – again – it will be incredibly hard to keep him.
Our young core is great and for my money, they are responsible for almost all the positives so far this season. It’s a shame their manager is not quite up to their level.
Money won’t be the issue. Silverware, and working with the best coaches/players could be. The “he’s young, keep developing/playing at arsenal for a while” idea is a nice one, but not realistic for top players. Players improve by playing with better players and coaches. Plus you win stuff. If we can’t realistically offer that (in his mind), he’s gone.
Read MA’s comments and could not help thinking:
Willian?!?!?!?
Cedric?!?!?!?
David Fucking Luiz?!?!?!?
And to a lesser extent Xhaka??????
(Noone is gonna convince me that AMN in the center would be worse that playing Xhaka. Hells, putting my pet Lab in the middle of the park – he’d cover WAY more ground and cause fewer problems.)
Arsenal will never be real contenders as long as Xhaka is at the club.
Even if we were to loose him(which is not thinkable), we should be selling for 150 million pounds at the bare minimum. But Saka’s heart is at Arsenal.
Sell for 120m?? Martinelli, Odegaard and saka…PSG will eventually come for one of them… especially if we get back in the CL.. football is business first and we don’t have infinite resources…just make them bleed when they come for our players….hale end will churn new players out…our model at best is a Dortmund 2.0
Being Arsenal, we’ll probably let him run his contract down and let him move to Man City on a free.
God I hope he stays, him and ESR are the 2 bright spots in some otherwise bleak years! Hopefully Arteta can point to Grealish at City and say ‘you be a small fish in a huge pond’