ARSENAL will hold talks with Bukayo Saka over a new contract.
The exciting 20-year-old still has two more years to run on his current agreement, which is thought to be worth just £35,000 a week.
But Mikel Arteta wants to recognise Saka’s increasing importance to his team by making him one of the highest-paid players at the club.
With Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United all monitoring Saka’s situation, Arteta knows that Arsenal’s position will be enhanced if they can secure Champions League qualification this season.
The Gunners boss said: “We are going to have a conversation with the player and then with his family and his agent so that everybody is on board.
“Obviously our desire is to keep Bukayo for as long as possible because we are really happy with him.
“He is part of our DNA who is growing and maturing all the time.
“His importance to the team is unquestionable and we want to keep our best talent at the club, that’s for sure.”
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Saka looks on course to land Arsenal’s player of the season gong at the end of this campaign.
He has six goals in the Premier League, only bettered by Emile Smith Rowe on eight.
And his tally of four assists is top of the Emirates pile.
The 14-cap England international’s £35,000-a-week wages means he was earning around ten per cent of what Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was on before his free transfer to Barcelona on deadline day.
But Saka’s current deal, tying him down until 2024, has opened the door for Arsenal’s rivals to try and prize the winger away from the club he joined as a kid before progressing at Hale End into a first-team starter.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk