'LET'S KICK ARSE'

WILLIAM Saliba said he always had his heart set on staying with Arsenal after ending speculation over his future by signing a new long-term contract on Tuesday.

The France defender put pen to paper on a reported five-year deal, which will keep him at the Premier League club until 2030.

Saliba, whose previous contract was due to run until 2027, extended his stay at the Emirates Stadium despite reports of interest from Real Madrid.

The 24-year-old is the latest player to commit his future to the Gunners following new deals for fellow centre-back Gabriel, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly.

He wysed reporters on the eve of Arsenal’s Champions League match against Olympiakos at 9pm on Wednesday: “I knew that I wanted to stay here for more years so I was not really focused on other clubs.

“So I’m happy to be here and sign a new deal to focus on my club.”

The centre-back joined the Gunners in 2019 but had three loan spells before establishing himself as a regular in Mikel Arteta’s span.

Since then he has been at the heart of an Arsenal side that has finished second in each of the past three seasons in the Premier League.

Saliba added: “I went on loan, I came back here and I started almost every game so yeah I’m so proud of myself.”

The Gunners are looking for a second straight win in the Champions League after beating Athletic Bilbao 2-0 in their opening match.

Elsewhere, Manchester City travel to Monaco, while Newcastle face Union-Saint Gilloise away on Wednesday.

Wednesday's Champions League fixtures:

Qarabag v Copenhagen, Union-Saint Gilloise v Newcastle (both 6.45pm), Monaco v Man City, Dortmund v Athletic Bilbao, Napoli v Sporting, Villareal v Juventus, Barca v PSG, Leverkusen v PSV (all 9pm)