Arsenal star William Saliba is willing to make a ‘financial sacrifice’ to join Real Madrid as Xabi Alonso’s centre-back ‘operation is already underway’.
The Gunners have signed Martin Zubimenddi, Noni Madueke, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Christian Norgaard for a Combined Fee of £123M so far this summer and have a agreed a £55m deal with Sporting for Viktor Gyokeres, whose medical is planned for this week ahead of his move to the Emirates.
Centre-back Cristhian Mosquera is then set to be announced as their sixth summer signing after Arsenal reached an agreement with Valencia for his £17m transfer, with the 21-year-old set to travel to Singapore to link up with the Gunners squad and complete his medical.
Sporting director Andrea Berta is also working on player sales, with Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson and Albert Sambi Lokonga among those on the transfer list, but he won’t be too pleased by Madrid’s growing interest in Saliba.
The La Liga giants have been linked with the Frenchman for some time and Alonso’s arrival has strengthened their resolve to bolster options at the back, with the futures of David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger in doubt.
Saliba is one of two top targets for Los Blancos, along with Liverpool's Ibrahima Konateand both are keen on the move to the Bernabeu, according to Spanish outlet Mark.
The report admits that a move for Konate would be the path of least resistance for Madrid as his contract expires next summer and Liverpool ‘do not want to allow a player of that level to leave without anything in return’, on the back of Trent Alexander-Arnold running down his contract to make the same move this summer.
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It’s claimed the Liverpool bosses suspect ‘the leaders of the Madrid entity have already done the work’ to sign Konate at the end of the coming season and that belief has ‘some degree of foundation’, but ‘the question is whether they wait or move this summer’.
It’s claimed ‘Saliba has nothing to do with Konate’, which we presume means Madrid could move for both rather than one or the other.
Arsenal have been looking to lock Saliba into a new contract, with his current deal expiring in 2027, but there have been no reports of progress.
And the report states that he would be willing ‘to make an economic effort’ to sign for Madrid – i.e. take a wage cut – though ‘the defender spoke of wanting one more year’ at the Emirates before making the switch.
‘Doubts have grown’ over the suitability of Alonso’s current crop of centre-backs after the Club World Cup, which saw new signing Dean Huijsen impress but Raul Asencio and Rudiger struggle, with that tournament also increasing Madrid’s ‘desire to sign Saliba’.
