LONDON: William Saliba has signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal, the Premier League club announced on Tuesday.
The France defender has reportedly put pen to paper on a five-year deal, which will keep him at the club until 2030. His previous contract had been due to run until 2027.
Saliba, 24, had been expected to extend his stay at the Emirates despite earlier reported interest from Real Madrid.
The center-back joined the Gunners in 2019 but had a number of loan spells before establishing himself as a regular in Mikel Arteta’s team during the 2022/23 season.
Since then Saliba has been at the heart of an Arsenal side that has finished second in each of the past three seasons in the Premier League.
“I feel at home. We have a good team, we have a good squad, we have good staff. The coach is perfect for me, so it’s the best place to be,” said Saliba.
“I enjoy every day when I have the chance to wear this shirt. I try to give everything, and now I’ll give even more to this club and to the fans.”
Manager Arteta said: “William is loved by all the players and staff, and that speaks volumes about his character, commitment and attitude every day.
“Since joining us, William has grown so much, embraced responsibility, and has created a strong connection with our supporters and everyone at the club.”
Arsenal are second in the Premier League, two points behind leaders Liverpool after six games of the season.
Saliba signs new long-term deal at Arsenal
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Saliba signs new long-term deal at Arsenal
- William Saliba has signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal, the Premier League club announced on Tuesday
Turkiye orders arrest of 29 footballers in betting scandal
- Among the players, 27 are suspected of having bet on matches involving their own teams, prosecutors said
- One was Metehan Baltaci, who plays for reigning Turkish champions Galatasaray
ISTANBUL: Istanbul prosecutors on Friday ordered the arrest of 46 people, among them 29 football players, as part of a sprawling investigation into illegal betting on Turkish matches.
Among the players, 27 are suspected of having bet on matches involving their own teams, the public prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
One was Metehan Baltaci, who plays for reigning Turkish champions Galatasaray, it said. Earlier this month, he had been suspended for nine months over the betting scandal.
The investigation has rocked Turkish football, with six referees placed in pre-trial detention on November 10, along with the president of Eyupspor, a club in Turkiye’s top Super Lig division.
Prosecutors did not identify the other 26 players suspected of bets involving their own teams, but said Mert Hakan Yandas, who plays for Fenerbahce, another major Istanbul club, had placed bets through someone else’s account.
The prosecutor’s office said police had so far detained 35 of the 46 people named in the arrest order. Five were known to be currently abroad, it said.
- Zero goal attempts -
Two club presidents were among those targeted by the order for “attempting to influence the outcome” of a match between their two third-division teams in the 2023-2024 season, the statement said.
The match had caught the attention of investigators because neither side had even made one attempt to score a goal, Turkish media reported, with several newspapers saying that was where the entire investigation began.
Six other suspects, one of them a player, are accused of conspiring to influence the result of a second-division clash between Umraniyespor and Giresunspor in December 2023.
A first-division referee, the ex-president of second-division side Adana Demirspor, and a well-known football commentator and his wife were also targeted for “suspect financial transactions” in their bank accounts.
So far, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) — which has said it wants to “clean up” the beautiful game in Turkiye — has suspended more than 1,000 players, 25 of them from the Super Lig, with the sanctions ranging from 45 days to 12 months.
Only one was a foreign national — Konyaspor’s Senegalese winger Alassane Ndao, who was suspended for 12 months.
In October, the TFF suspended nearly 150 referees for betting on matches, all of whom have since been dismissed.
