You say that and yet said defence is a significant factor as to what cost us the league
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The only thing that’s elite about Saliba right now is his potential.
People massively overrate him at his current state. He was incredible for the first 10-15 games this season. He got the least minutes in the French squad out of any outfield player. He came back from the World Cup looking like a right mess and then picked up form a couple games before he got injured.
Overall, Gabriel has been the better CB this season.
From what has been reported the issue with his renewal is to do with money. Judging from how the club has been handing out contracts to players and been so generous with their wages, his wage demands must be pretty high for them not to be anywhere close to an agreement.
As far as I’m concerned the highest paid CB in the team has to be Gabriel or White, if Saliba wants anything beyond that he can start looking elsewhere.
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No, he definitely has elite traits.
No need to rewrite history.
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He’s also had plenty of jittery moments and plenty of times where he’s looked uncertain with his movement and positioning as a CB. He looked a mess at times post World Cup so it’s not as if he was so utterly flawless that he cannot be replaced in his current state.
Kid is clearly one of Europe’s top young CB prospects but he isn’t infallible and that makes him replaceable. Of the two CBs I’d say Gabriel was the better one when the two players together before his injury.
Nobody wants him to leave but he can be replaced. As Stroller said, the collective is more important than the individual. Saliba doesn’t profile in a way that is so unique he simply cannot be replaced. I’m sure with diligent scouting we’d be able to find a solution if we did have to sell him.
I actually bet had Tomiyasu not been so injury prone and we had to rely on a White-Gabriel CB partnership we’d have looked just as good at CB than with post WC-Saliba.
Kids a great talent and prospect but people heavily overrated how good he currently is. He’s very good but there’s a lot of room to improve. And I believe alongside Bastoni he’s the best young CB in Europe.
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He came in to The Premier league as a 21 year old and was as good as anyone for long parts…
We give 25/26 yr olds the benefit of the doubt when coming into the PL.
He just took it all in his stride and for large parts of the season looked far more assured than a very good CB in Gabriel.
Would be a monumental loss for us as a club.
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Dunno
Gabriel made many errors in the first 10 games.
Also has fallen off a Cliff since April.
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Same came be said for damn near our whole defence, difference is he’s this good at this age
That’s not so replaceable
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I haven’t see any elite trait from him since November last year.
His last proper top performance with us was against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
That’s precisely why I think the collective pairing makes all the difference. It would be a massive blow to lose Saliba he’s a hugely talented young CB but in his current state he can be replaced is all I’m saying.
That’s a question of form not whether he possesses the traits though and he’s not alone in that aspect either
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If it’s resolveable by money we should just pay him what he wants, it will pay off in terms of what he adds to the team and/or resale fee.
Taking into account transfer fee of a replacement (and likely lack we’d get for Saliba being in last 12 months), I don’t see his wages making it significantly more expensive overall than letting him go.
If it’s not money-related however then might be best to sell now
Letting Saliba go would be unjustifiable.
We spent 50mill on Ben White and not a single person would play him over Saliba at CB. So I doubt our ability to replace Saliba adequately.
The guy turned up to the league and for large parts made Gabriel look like a complete amateur.
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I think the conundrum is:
Do you keep him knowing he most likely leaves for free in the summer and then be put in a position where you have to replace next summer, or do you take the hit now, get as much money as you can for him and replace him accordingly.
Ideally, he just renews of course, but the clock is ticking. If this isn’t resolved by August then we’ll be put in a very tough spot and we’ll have to make a decision.
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We need to be in a position as a club that we’re attractive enough to retain all our quality players.
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We also need to be in a position where players can’t hold us hostage anymore though.
See how smooth negotiations have been with everyone. Martinelli, Saka, Ramsdale, Gabriel and they’re now ready to start talking to Odegaard and White.
As far as we’ve heard, we’re nowhere near agreeing with Saliba. As I said before, clearly the club is open to handing out new contracts and rewarding players with some very generous wages. Whatever Saliba’s camp is asking must be well beyond what we’re willing to pay for him.
If both parties can’t find a middle ground and with this mysterious back injury still being a concern, there is certainly an argument that we should perhaps move on.
I think it would be justifiable if the reason was him intending to leave on a free next summer.
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I think they’re going to try and play the field this summer and see what other offers crop up before they commit to a new deal here.
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If he doesn’t sign, there’s no way we should keep him and lose out on a decent fee.
There’s no guarantee he’ll stay fit and if he’s unhappy he could be a disruptive influence, so if he doesn’t want to play for us, then get a player that does.
I’m prepared for anything but I think its a situation where both sides have a good amount of leverage and without a firm deadline that kind of negotiation can just drag. It could be wishful thinking but my guess is that neither really wants the impasse to go past this summer. If he stays healthy and in form, Saliba could get a huge deal next summer on a Bosman. But what if his back flares up again and he misses another 3-4 months next year? Arsenal are also very likely to sign a new RCB this summer and what if he falls out of favor due to this contract impasses and loses his place to that player? There is a lot of risk for him in not signing a new deal. He also is a guy who has moved constantly in his career and now has the chance to settle in one club for a while where he is truly loved by the fanbase. I think stuff like that counts, at least around the margins.
We are probably offering him somewhere around 120k per week, roughly in line with White and Gabriel, and his agent wants 200k per week like his buddy Fofana. I would be surprised if there isn’t a deal to be struck that roughly splits the difference.
If he doesn’t sign, we absolutely have to sell him. £75m is an acceptable fee for this ability and potential.
Can find a replacement with that amount, or unearth another gem.