Edu Gaspar Gives Update On Bukayo Saka Contract Negotiations

Arsenal technical director Edu has spoken out about Hale End starlet Bukayo Saka’s contract situation.

Saka was the talisman behind all positive attacking endeavours for the Gunners last season, sometimes holding the entire attacking burden on his young shoulders.

The PFA Young Player of the Year is a coveted asset, with the likes of Manchester City reported to be interested in the 20-year-old.

Yet Edu is adamant as to where he sees the marauding winger’s future.

Speaking to The Athletic on how the contract negotiations are going, the Brazilian said:

“Good, very good. Everybody is happy. We’re going to sit & put all the expectations in the right place.

“The main thing is how he feels, how he feels comfortable with us.

“He’s happy, we’re happy, so it’s just: sit down & find a solution.”

Edu’s words will be a solace to anxious Arsenal fans, keen to ensure that the fan favourite doesn’t add himself to a list of players who left the club with their best years ahead of them.

Having been at Arsenal since the tender age of 7, Saka has shown little inclination that he sees his future elsewhere. 

If there were any doubts regarding the ambitions of his boyhood club, business thus far this transfer window should firmly squash those doubts.

The Gunners have made five signings so far, Marquinhos, Matt Turner, Fabio Vieira, Gabriel Jesus and Olexsandr Zinchenko.

Despite a high number of additions, Edu has shown no indication of letting up just yet, determined to add more killer mentality into the young Arsenal squad:

“I’m not saying we don’t have a [good] squad but we need a bigger squad with personalities, with some behaviours, that say, ‘I don’t lose that game. I will kill someone’.

“I think we’ve added some more players with that kind of character.”

Saka is the spearhead of this fearlessness, the player willing to run through walls to ensure the Gunners win.

Being the only Arsenal player to feature in all 38 league games last season is indicative of that. The 20-year-old is willing to die for the badge.

Contract extensions are an intricate, detailed process. But from Edu’s words, and the suggestion that “everybody is happy”, indications are that Arsenal’s no.7, their own killer, is ready to extend his stay at his boyhood club.