Breaking news Real Madrid and Arsenal have made an agreement on the transfer of William Saliba from Arsenal to Real Madrid for a fee of £75m HERE WE GO!!!!!!

Real Madrid staying close to Arsenal star William Saliba discreetly, preparing to sign him in 2026 for affordable amount or in 2027 for free

Real Madrid are staying close to Arsenal centre-back William Saliba discreetly and preparing the ground to try and sign him in 2026 for an affordable amount or in 2027 as a free agent, according to The Athletic.

The La Liga club are most keen on the Gunners star as they look to strengthen defensively, and they have compiled very positive reports on him since he was at Saint-Etienne.

While Madrid considered signing him at the time, Saliba joined Arsenal instead in 2019 and has since established himself as one of the best in his position, shutting them out to help his side to a 3-0 victory on Tuesday.

The Spanish club have continued to keep a positive relationship with his entourage, but landing the 24-year-old this summer looks highly unlikely.

Arsenal are aware of their interest and are looking to extend his deal beyond 2027, but Madrid will keep deploying their usual transfer strategy and hope Saliba refuses to sign a new deal with the North London club.

They signed Kylian Mbappe for free last summer after convincing the Frenchman not to extend his contract at Paris Saint-Germain and it is believed they will get Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold for nothing this summer after convincing him not to sign a new deal.

Madrid will attempt to do so with Saliba and failure to hand him an extension this year will put Arsenal under plenty of pressure ahead of the summer of 2026.

They could be forced to sell him next year so as to prevent losing him for free in 2027, and new sporting director Andrea Berta will look to avoid such a situation.

The Gunners proved their quality against Madrid in the first-leg of the quarter-final of the Champions League and getting the job done in the second-leg will get them closer to winning the elite European competition.

Doing so would boost their chances of convincing Saliba to extend his contract, and manager Mikel Arteta will be desperate to hold on to the Frenchman for as long as possible as he continues to build a squad capable of winning major silverware regularly.