French-Cameroonian William Saliba admits Arsenal’s second-place finishes makes him ‘angry’

William Saliba has admitted that Arsenal’s repeated near-misses in recent seasons have left him ‘angry’, insisting that he is now determined to win silverware with the club following his new contract extension.

The French-born defender, who is of Cameroonian heritage, signed a fresh five-year deal this week to remain at the Emirates, a move that significantly boosts Arsenal’s ambitions as they prepare for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Monaco.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Saliba underlined that his main motivation is lifting trophies with the Gunners after narrowly missing out in recent campaigns.

“I’m so happy to sign a new deal with my club. I hope to keep going like this with the team to win some trophies,” he said.

“The only thing that we’re missing here is winning trophies. We all believe in the project and the future. We have a good squad, good staff and a good coach, so we are close to that shifting.”

Saliba stressed that Arsenal must now convert progress into success under Mikel Arteta, who has yet to win a major trophy since the Community Shield in 2023.

“We are always close, but if we don’t win, it’s because we’re missing something. Every year we are getting better and we have taken a lot of experiences from the last three seasons. We have to stop talking and prove on the pitch that we are ready to win,” he added.

The 24-year-old also reflected on the frustration of finishing second in back-to-back seasons.

“I’ve been here for three years and every season you finish second you get a bit more angry. You want to be able to go on your holidays and celebrate the trophies that you’ve won with your club, so when you finish second the holidays are not so good.”