Real Madrid is adopting a long-term strategy in their pursuit of Arsenal center-back William Saliba, according to recent reports.
Madrid’s interest in Saliba is not a recent development; however, acquiring the French defender will prove challenging, as Arsenal is expected to demand a world-record transfer fee to release their key defensive player this summer.
Due to their hesitation to meet such a fee and Saliba’s public declaration of his commitment to Arsenal, Madrid has temporarily stepped back from negotiations.
Nevertheless, they remain optimistic about the possibility of bringing him to Santiago Bernabeu in the future.
The Athletic reports that Madrid will follow their typical approach for high-profile transfers.
They plan to maintain close contact with Saliba’s representatives and persuade him to allow his contract to expire, potentially facilitating a reduced transfer in 2026 or even a free transfer in 2027.
This strategy previously enabled them to secure Kylian Mbappe last summer and has led to an agreement with Liverpool’s right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold for a free transfer this year.
It also culminated in the signing of Eden Hazard from Chelsea in the summer of 2019, although that deal still involved a substantial fee.
However, this approach has not always been successful.
They lost out on Leny Yoro by declining to match Manchester United’s offer a year before his contract with Lille expired.
Overall, they have not paid a transfer fee for a center-back since Eder Militao’s arrival from Porto in 2019.
Madrid also expressed interest in Bayern Munich’s left-back Alphonso Davies and felt confident about securing him on a free transfer at the end of the current season.
However, he has since ended speculation by signing a new contract in Germany.
Arsenal will be hoping for a similar outcome with Saliba, who is 24 years old.
New sporting director Andrea Berta has been assigned the task of negotiating several high-profile contract extensions, including those for center-back partner Gabriel Magalhaes and forwards Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri.
