Mikel Arteta sends clear message to Bukayo Saka over Arsenal contract talks | Football

Mikel Arteta believes that Bukayo Saka can ‘leave a legacy’ at Arsenal should the academy graduate extend his stay at his boyhood club.

Saka has again been a crucial cog in Arteta’s side so far this season, scoring three times in nine Premier League games to help the Gunners take an early lead in the title race.

The Englishman has been virtually ever-present since breaking into the Arsenal side back in 2019, but has just 18 months left on his current deal at the Emirates.

Despite that, there appears not to be any great concern that the 24-year-old will turn his back on his boyhood club, with several reports suggesting that both parties are getting closer to an agreement over a new long-term deal.

‘Well, what I’m very aware of is that he wants to continue with us,’ Arteta said when asked about Saka’s contract situation on Friday.

‘He’s very happy that he’s in the place that he wants to continue to be and achieve everything that we want to achieve together. When that happens and how it happens, I leave that to him and the club.’

Asked if he was confident that a deal would soon be finalised, the Spaniard replied: ‘I prefer that word.

‘I think it is confident because what Bukayo has admitted to me and the club, and Emeka (Obasi, Saka’s agent) as well, is that they want to continue to be here.

‘I think it is a very healthy and powerful relationship, the journey that he had at the club and what he has become.

‘It is something we want to maintain and I think that it is something that will leave a legacy at this football club and he needs to fulfil the role, which is great.’

Perhaps learning from their title rivals Liverpool, who saw Trent Alexander-Arnold run down his contract to facilitate a move to Real Madrid last summer, Arsenal have taken a far more proactive approach in tying down their key players to long-term deals.

Key defensive duo Gabriel and William Salbia signed new deals over the summer, while academy graudates Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly also signed long-term contracts after their respective first-team breakthroughs.

Arteta has also spoken publically about the club holding talks with Jurrien Timber over a contract extension, given the Dutch defender’s rise to become one of the key players in the Spaniard’s squad.

‘I think there has been a very clear vision and route of how we want to do things,’ Arteta added.

‘The ownership has been incredibly supportive and determined that we can continue the journey with these players and maintain the core of the team.

‘And then the efficiency with everyone who works upstairs, starting with Andrea and all the team, to get things done.

‘Because at the end there are always three parties and it is never an easy thing to get done.’

Arsenal will look to extend their unbeaten run to 15 games in all competitions when they face Tottenham in the north London derby on Sunday.

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