Arsenal: Romano reveals ‘exit truth’ about Real Madrid ‘priority’ target with ‘major operation’ underway

According to reports, Spanish giants Real Madrid have made Arsenal centre-back William Saliba their ‘new priority’ target and ‘contact’ has been made.

The Gunners paid around £27m to sign Saliba from Ligue Un outfit Saint-Ettiene in 2019 and he’s established himself as one of the best defenders in the world.

The France international has struck up a brilliant partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes and they are arguably the best centre-back pairing in the Premier League.

Saliba is reportedly being targeted by a couple of European giants as his stunning performances have not gone unnoticed.

The 23-year-old is under contract until 2027, but Arsenal may soon have a fight on their hands as a report from French outlet Le10 Sport claims he is Real Madrid’s ‘new priority’ target for next summer.

READ: Ten Hag defenders citing Klopp and Arteta are clutching at slippery straws

Real Madrid are said to be ‘attacking’ for Saliba and his ‘entourage have already been contacted’ to discuss a proposed transfer.

‘The Madrid leaders would have already put themselves in working order since Saliba’s entourage has been contacted. A first contact is to take the temperature and position themselves clearly.

Real Madrid is targeting Saliba for the 2025 summer transfer window. A major operation could thus be built in the coming months and attempt to break the Gunners’ lock.

‘In the eyes of Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta, Saliba has become a pillar of his team. It’s not easy to touch the backbone of the English club… But Real Madrid could give itself the means, particularly financially, to convince the player and the Premier League team.’

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Despite this, Romano has revealed the ‘exit truth’ regarding Saliba, saying he is “not aware of anything concrete at this stage”.

“A story that keeps coming up at the moment is William Saliba and a possible move away from Arsenal – in recent weeks we’ve heard a few times about Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, but I can honestly say I have no confirmation of any of this, including on the claim that Real Madrid contacted Saliba’s entourage,” Romano said in his Daily Briefing column .

“I’m not aware of anything concrete at this stage – all I know is that Saliba is fully focused on Arsenal, while Arsenal obviously also consider Saliba as a key part of their project, nothing else.

“Real Madrid are exploring the centre-backs market since the Leny Yoro case last summer, as they missed out on his signature to Manchester United, but at the moment that’s it; nothing else into those Saliba stories and I can guarantee he’s 100% focused on Arsenal now.”

Romano has also commented on Jorginho’s future after he was heavily linked with an exit in the summer.

“Some other Arsenal rumours have been circulating involving Jorginho. However, I can say that the situation is that Jorginho is only thinking about this season,” Romano added.

“It’s an important season for Arsenal, I don’t think all these links for Jorgi, Saliba etc are genuine and are good for the club… it’s only the beginning of October, the season started just 50 days ago.

“Jorginho’s full focus is on present, on Arsenal, not on moving into coaching and not on making the move to Saudi.”