Saliba happy to focus on Arsenal’s title bid

William Saliba insists he is “so happy” at Arsenal as contract talks continue behind the scenes of an increasingly convincing Premier League title bid.

The Gunners sit eight points clear at the summit following a 2-0 derby win at Tottenham on Sunday.

A Hugo Lloris own goal and long-range strike from captain Martin Odegaard secured Arsenal’s first-ever win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and moved them further ahead at the top of the table.

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France international Saliba has played a large part in the club’s upturn in fortunes having made his debut at the start of the season following three loan spells away from north London.

Such has been the level of his performances that he is expected to sign a new deal with Arsenal and he is ready to let the talks rumble on in the background as Mikel Arteta’s side strive for glory.

“We are so happy because the derby is a big game, and it was an away game too,” he said.

“We know it’s not easy to win here, so we are so happy. We didn’t concede one goal and we scored two.

“We are focused on ourselves. We are not focused on our rivals. We have to keep going like this and stay focused only on our ourselves.

“I am so happy here. The club is speaking with my agent and me, the only thing I can do is (focus on my football). I am so happy here.”

Speaking after the Spurs win, Arteta said a sustained title challenge would “demand almost perfection” for the remainder of the campaign, with Saliba now seeking retribution with victory over Manchester United – the one team to beat Arsenal in the league this season – next weekend.

“It’s never enough,” he replied when asked what it means to be eight points clear at this stage.

Antony (right) and Marcus Rashford (left) scored the goals as Manchester United beat Arsenal at Old Trafford in September (Martin Rickett/PA)

“We know we have a lot of games to go. We have to be focused because things can change quickly. If we lose one game, after we can have no confidence, so we have to be focused on keeping going and trying to win. We focus on ourselves.

“There’s no pressure. It’s better to have this pressure when you are at the top than when you are down at the bottom. It’s better to keep going like this and we don’t have to have pressure.

“We know we have a big game next week. We know they beat us. They are the only team to beat us this season in the Premier League and we want to beat them again at home.

“We will prepare this game very good I think, and I hope we will win in front of our fans. We will keep going. We didn’t know before (that Arsenal could win the league), but when the summer started, I told myself we can do something.”