William Saliba's camp 'respond' to Real Madrid interest as Arsenal braced for world record bid

William Saliba’s representatives have seemingly ‘responded’ to rumours linking the Arsenal centre-back with a move to Real Madrid.

Saliba, 23, is widely considered to be one of the best defenders in Europe and has formed a formidable partnership with Gabriel Magalhães at the heart of the Gunners’ defence over the past few seasons.

The France international started in Arsenal’s 3-1 win against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Wednesday evening, a victory which reduced the deficit at the top of the Premier League table between them and Liverpool to six points – although the league leaders have played a game less.

And as ever with young defenders, his consistently impressive showings have attracted the interest of the La Liga champions, Real Madrid.

The defender, who has made 109 appearances for Arsenal since joining from Saint-Étienne in 2019, is also fancied by Paris Saint-Germain, with the Gunners having already rejected a bid from the Ligue 1 side, according to Metro.

Spanish outlet Sport reports that Real Madrid have identified Saliba as their ‘priority’ in defence but feel like they may need to ‘break all records’ if they are to prise the player away from the Premier League outfit.

The current world record transfer fee paid for a defender was £80m (according to BBC Sport) when Man United signed Harry Maguire from Leicester City in August 2019, eclipsing the £75m fee Liverpool paid for Virgil van Dijk when he transferred from Southampton in January 2018.

Mikel Arteta will be hoping to keep hold of William Saliba (Credit:Getty)

It has been claimed that Madrid has received a ‘positive response’ from Saliba’s camp regarding a potential switch to the Spanish giants. Saliba's Arsenal contract is set to run until June 2027, with the Metro reporting that a fee of around £83m could be issued by Madrid.

However, it is unclear if Arsenal would consider a bid if it were to be put to them by Madrid, although such an integral player leaving midway through the season would be a huge blow to Arsenal’s hopes of winning the Premier League after finishing second in the last two campaigns.

But from a Madrid perspective, a deal would make sense. Centre-backs David Alaba and Eder Militao have been sidelined with anterior cruciate ligament injuries (ACL) in recent months, leaving Carlo Ancelotti forced to play youngster Raul Asencio and usual midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni alongside Antonio Rudiger.