Real Madrid agree to sell Rodrygo to Arsenal if Gunners let them sign 24-year-old star in return: Reports

Real Madrid are reportedly ready to sell Rodrygo to Arsenal if they can get William Saliba in return. The Spanish giants want to sign the 24-year-old as they look to bolster their defense.

According to Defensa Central, Saliba is one of the key targets for Real Madrid this summer as they do not want to count on Eder Militao and David Alaba. Both defenders have been injury-prone in the last couple of seasons, while Antonio Rudiger is in the final year of his contract.

Los Blancos want to take advantage of Arsenal's interest in Rodrygo and try to seal a deal. Saliba is also in the final two years of his contract and is yet to sign a new deal at the Emirates.

The Spanish report comes weeks after Fabrizio Romano confirmed that Los Blancos were discussing the move internally. He said on his YouTube channel in May (via Caught Offside):

"In the list of Real Madrid, the dream target has always been William Saliba. My information is that Real Madrid understood at the beginning of May that Saliba this summer was impossible to reach as a target because, for Arsenal, he is a crucial player and they are discussing a new contract with William Saliba. So Madrid's position on Saliba is clear – they will sign Dean Huijsen now, but Saliba remains a dream target for them."

Xabi Alonso is open to selling Rodrygo, as he prefers Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, and Gonzalo Garcia as his options in attack. The manager wants to add a center-back, and they have also been linked with Liverpool star Ibrahima Konate, who is in the final year of his contract at the club.

Arsenal star looks like he was meant to play for Real Madrid, claims Jamie Carragher

Jamie Carragher was on the It's Called Soccer podcast earlier this year and claimed that William Saliba was a player who was supposed to play for Real Madrid. He believes that the Arsenal star falls in the same category as Xabi Alonso and said (via GOAL):

"There is one player, and people will be thinking I'm trying to cause a problem for Arsenal here, and I'm not. But I think when you're at a club, and this happened to us at Liverpool, once you don't win the league or the Champions League, other bigger clubs start thinking, 'okay, we can take their player'.

"So for us at Liverpool it was [Xabi] Alonso, [Javier] Mascherano and [Fernando] Torres and then that team that had been built by Rafa Benitez – players were just leaving left, right and centre. I do look at Saliba and to me he looks like a Madrid player. I can imagine him in a Real Madrid kit."

Arsenal are in talks with Saliba over a new deal and the Frenchman was hopeful of extending his stay when quizzed earlier this summer.