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Jamie Carragher warns Arsenal their ‘superstar’ could leave if they don’t start winning trophies quickly

Srinivas Sadhanand

Wed 26 February 2025 15:45, UK

Perhaps the one worry Arsenal fans will have is that some of their biggest names might start considering their futures unless they win major trophies soon.

While there is no questioning that the Gunners’ project led by Mikel Arteta is heading in the right direction, a footballer’s career is a short one and players’ heads start to turn if they do🙈 not taste the fruits of their labour.

Luis Suarez’s move to Barcelona fr😼om Liverpool in 2014 is perhaps the best example — as the Uruguayan striker’s decision to leave Anfield proved to be a masterstroke𒊎 as he won 13 trophies in Spain.

The clock is ticking for Arsenal to deliver so that they do not a situation similar to the Reds’ with Suarez — as they sit 11 points adrift of Arne Slot’s side in the Premier League title race 🦹— which looks increasingly likely to be won by the Dutchman and his cohort.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	27	19	7	1	64	26	38	64
2	ArsenalArsenal	26	15	8	3	51	23	28	53
3	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	26	14	5	7	44	33	11	47
4	ChelseaChelsea	27	13	7	7	52	36	16	46

The likes of William Saliba (22) and Bukayo Saka (23) are two pla💙yers in particular who are still quite young and if they do decide to leave North London, clubs across Europe are expected to line up in numbers to snag their signatures up.

Jamie Carragher says William Saliba could leave Arsenal if they don’t start winning trophies

Saliba is viewed as a “superstar” by Real Madrid and unlike Saka, he did not come through Arsenal’s academy — making it far easier for him in theory to depart N17 to adva⭕nce his career.

The Frenchman will also be flattered by their interest, as Saliba is Real Madrid’s priority signing.

The £27 million () man is one of the best centre-backs๊ in the world and at 🐓a club accustomed to winning silverware like Los Blancos, the former Saint-Etienne defender will be aware that he could elevate his status as one of the best players to ever grace his position.

Jamie💃 Carragher can imagine Saliba donning a Real Madrid kit, warning Arsenal that he might well decide to leave one day unless they start winning🀅 football’s biggest prizes.

Carragher said on The Overlap US’ show, ‘It’s Called Soccer!’: “There is one player and people will think I’m trying to cause a problem at Arsenal here but I’m not but this again, happened to us at Liverpool. Once you don’t win the league or the Champions League, other bigger clubs star🦩t thinking, ‘Okay, we can take their player.’ So, for us, it was [Xabi] Alonso, [Javier] Mascherano and [Fernando] Torres.”

“And that team that Rafa Benitez has built, players had just been leaving left, right and centre. And I do look at Saliba and I do look at him and think, for me, he lo♔ok꧟s like a Real Madrid player. I can imagine him in a Real Madrid kit, you look at some of the best centre-backs out there.”

“The longer your club doesn’t go with win🃏ning, competing you might say, oh, we’re competing for trophies but when you’re as good as someone like him and some of the players we had in our team, like Mascherano goes to the great Barcelona team and Alonso wins the Champions League at Real Madrid, it didn’t happen for Torres, he made the wrong choice at Chelsea.”

Jamie Carragher concluded: “That’s my point, the longer you go without winning, people start looking at your players and thinking, ‘🅺Okay, we’re going to take them’ and the players are receptive to it because it’s a short career, they want to be playing in the Champions League final, they want t🐽o be winning and listen, that might happen for Arsenal this season but that’s a problem they’ll have going forward if they don’t start winning trophies quickly.”

What Arsenal star William Saliba thinks about signing for Real Madrid

Joining Real Madrid is Saliba’s dream move as the Spanish giants remain extremely keen on 🍸his signing.

However, the report mentions that Arsenal have slapped a £100 million price tag on their reve♌red defender.

But it is believed that Real Madrid would happily pay su�꧅�ch a fee to sign Saliba.

Furthermore, one of the other reasons why the Bondy-born colossus would be keen on a move to Madrid ♛is to play alongside his childhood friend Kylian Mbappe.

If indeed the Arsenal ace is having such thoughts, Mikel Arteta must do everything in his power to deliver trophies at the Emirates🌄 Stadium.

Otherwise, Arteta could po🎉tentially lose a truly special player sooner rather than later.