William Gallas believes that William Saliba could be tempted to join Real Madrid if the Spanish giants tried to sign the Arsenal defender.

Saliba joined Arsenal in a £27m move from Saint-Etienne in 2019 and has gone on to establish himself as one of the best centre-backs in the league.

The Frenchman was an integral part of Mikel Arteta’s side that won the league title last season, forming a rock-solid partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes at the heart of Arsenal’s defence.

Saliba is under contract at Arsenal until 2030, signing a long-term deal in 2025 after he was heavily linked with Real Madrid.

But Gallas still believes he is destined to play for Madrid, and said his fellow countryman would find it hard to turn down a move to a club of that stature.

‘Are Arsenal at a high enough level now that William Saliba would turn down Real Madrid if they came in for him?’ Gallas told SeatPick.

‘I know a lot of people will be mad about what I’m going to say right now but if we are talking about the history of both clubs, Real Madrid and Arsenal, then Real Madrid is Real Madrid. They are on a different level.’

‘The pressure is bigger there. The atmosphere around the club is different. Every game, the fans expect you to win. Every game, the fans expect you to have a great performance. Every season, the fans expect you to win La Liga or to win the Champions League, so it’s a different level.

‘For me, even if their performances at the moment are not the best, and even if they haven’t won the biggest trophies recently, Madrid is Madrid, and I’m telling you, any player who has the opportunity to go to Madrid, they will try to go there, and you can’t blame them. You couldn’t blame a player like Saliba if that is his decision.

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‘Arsenal and Manchester United? They are still behind Barcelona and Real Madrid, even Manchester United still to this day because they have such a big history.

‘That’s why I think now with clubs like Arsenal, even if they had a good history in the past, what they are doing right now is rebuilding.

‘They are trying to tell their story again, and they are on the right track, but they are still behind Barcelona and Real Madrid.’

Saliba has not played a minute this campaign after suffering a back injury at the World Cup, but is now back in first-team training and closing in on a return.

Speaking recently about the Frenchman, Arteta said: ‘All the preparation has been done to measure all the loads and all the steps that he had to do to minimise that risk.

‘Now he’s in a really good place. He’s built the capacity that we needed, and now it’s about giving him minutes. He’s a centre-back, and when that’s the case, it’s not like an attacking midfielder or a nine that you can change.

‘A centre-back normally has to be able to play 90 minutes, and that’s why all the preparation that we’ve done to build him.’

Saliba was an unused substitute against Slavia Prague on Wednesday, but could be in line to feature against Hull City on Saturday after Ezri Konsa was forced off in the second half of their 2-1 win.

‘He is obviously playing a lot, he’s played so many games in the last few weeks,’ Arteta said of Konsa after Arsenal’s win in Prague.

‘He had some issues and we decided to take him off.’