‘He was going’: Pundit was convinced ‘brilliant’ Arsenal player would sign for Real Madrid

Arsenal face Manchester City this weekend, and the big clash in this game will be between Erling Haaland and William Saliba.

The Premier League’s best striker and arguably the Premier League’s best defender go head to head this weekend, and this is going to be an interesting clash.

Heading into this game, writing for The Times, Tony Cascarino has been building his combined Arsenal vs Manchester City XI, and, inevitably, Saliba got a mention.

In his write-up, Cascarino made an interesting claim about Saliba, stating that he was convinced that the Frenchman was Real Madrid-bound before he signed his new Arsenal contract.

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Tony Cascarino thought William Saliba was going to Real Madrid

Cascarino shared his thoughts on Saliba, claiming he thought he was on his way to Real Madrid.

“He is the No1 one centre half in the country now for me. People at Marseille spoke about him to me in glowing terms before he came back to Arsenal,” Cascarino wrote.

“I thought he was going to Real Madrid before he signed his new contract last summer. He is so composed and his timing is brilliant.”

Real Madrid are looking at William Saliba

It’s interesting that Cascarino makes this point because Real Madrid have looked at William Saliba recently.

Indeed, Madrid have been strongly linked with the Frenchman, and considering how strong Los Blancos are in the transfer market, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they did get this deal done one day.

When you’re an elite talent like Saliba, it does feel like all roads often do lead to the Bernabeu or Camp Nou.

Sadly, Arsenal don’t often tend to keep hold of these sorts of players for too long, and they may struggle to keep hold of Saliba in the coming years.

Don’t be surprised if Madrid do manage to get Saliba out of the Emirates at some point over the next few years.