Play More or Risk Real Madrid Temptation" – Gallas Urges Game-Time…

Published on April 3rd, 2026

Speaking exclusively with BOYLE Sports, former Chelsea defender William Gallas has given his perspective on young Blues attacker Estevao and the importance of game-time warning against move to Real Madrid and backs Victor Osimhen for another big move come to the summer.

The Arsenal centurion has offered his thoughts on his former clubs Carabao Cup defeat, if they have the mental strength to land a treble this season. warns their players about their recent injury issue antics, analyses Saka's struggles and names his dream signing in the summer for The Gunners.

Estevao

Estevao is still young. He is going to turn 19 in almost a month, and you need to give him more games for him to get that confidence and to show what he can do more because he's already a bit of what he can do. You have to find when you can give him more minutes, and maybe give him two or three games in a row.

It’s very difficult because Chelsea need to qualify for the Champions League . The manager is under pressure. You have some other wingers with more experience, so when you need the result, you always put players on who have more experience. That is going to be difficult for the manager to do the right rotation. You definitely have to put him in for the FA Cup.

Estevao To Real Madrid?

Estevao to Real Madrid ? It’s always the same thing. Sometimes you have to be careful. You have to try to leave for the biggest club at the right time. I can understand that he may be frustrated because he doesn’t play as much as he wants, but if he goes to Real Madrid at this age, he would want to go there to have a big impact on that club and not just go there to be on the bench. Don't forget you've got players like Vinicius Jnr who are already there. You've got Kylian Mbappé , who is already there. You've got Brahim Diaz on the other side. You have to be careful if you want to go there.

That's why I think for Estevao , he has to look to next season. I think he has to play more games and score more goals to have that target to be in the starting XI next season. It’s always the same thing. How many assists and how many goals did you score? If you play only 10 games during the season, but those 10 games are not just about the minutes you have to produce. You need the statistics. For a player in Estevao’s situation, it is very important.

Victor Osimhen

Can Victor Osimhen be a success in the Premier League ? Chelsea had the opportunity to bring him to England , and I don’t know what happened. It was the right time for him. Maybe something happened with Napoli , but he was the right guy to play up front.Unfortunately, it didn't happen, but look, he is a fantastic player, a fantastic striker, and he is a player who will fight for you out on the pitch, to try and win every ball and score goals.

What he's doing with Galatasaray , he’s shown in the Champions League ; he definitely still can compete at the top. He is still what a lot of clubs need right now, and he Galatasaray are a big club, but Osimhen needs to go to another league at another level to step up and compete at the highest levels every weekend. The Premier League is the best league in the world. Every weekend, it is very intense when you play against any club. That's why now maybe he has to make the move this summer.

Carabao Cup Defeat

I watched the final between Arsenal and Manchester City, and I asked myself many questions about what happened and what was wrong with Arsenal . Manchester City played very well. They played with a lot of pressure. They didn’t let Arsenal breathe. It was just amazing. But at the same time, I asked myself if it was more of a bad performance from Arsenal . I thought they needed to show more character and personality to find an answer to that pressure from Manchester City . Now everybody is talking about when Arsenal have to play the final games, they disappear.

Have Arsenal The Mental Strength?

I think that the international break came at the right time for Arsenal . That gives the players the chance to switch off a little bit after that defeat and to spend a little bit more time with their family, to refresh their mind and come back full energy for the rest of the season.

Treble Aspirations

Can Arsenal win the treble? I think Arsenal will win one trophy. The Premier League . They still have to be careful, but normally they would win the Premier League from this position.

Champions League ? I don’t think so. The FA Cup all depends on the result between Liverpool and M anchester City . If it’s Manchester City in the final, I think Manchester City will win. If it’s Liverpool vs Arsenal in the final, Arsenal will win. It’s a different style, and I think Liverpool’s style suits Arsenal better.

International Break Injuries

I saw the news on William Saliba when Didier Deschamps gave the list for those two games, and Saliba was in that list, but he didn’t go because he was injured, but I saw the Carabao Cup final, and Saliba played the whole game. I think Arsenal have protected their players. I don't know if they are really injured. For me, it's very difficult to understand if you play 90 minutes plus in the final and nothing happened, nobody saw anything on him, and then they sent a message to the French national team to say he's injured.

They tried to protect their players to not get one more game in their legs because now it will be like a sprint for the rest of the season. They’ve still got three competitions to win in the FA Cup , Champions League and Premier League . They tried to be very careful with the players in the international break.

It’s about the agreements between the club and the national teams. If the national team asks for that player, the player has to go there. I don't know what was discussed between the medical staff from the national team and from the club. If every club does the same, there'd be no international football. That shows you as well the pressure Arsenal have got on their shoulders. That’s why they did it.

Would Punishments Be Justified?

Are players like William Saliba prioritising Arsenal over France ? I don’t know if Saliba is injured or not, but what they have to be careful about is that he is a very important player for Arsenal , but for the international team, they picked another player against Brazil, and the defence played well.

For the World Cup , the manager has to decide who is going to decide who is going to be his true centre-back. If those players who played against Brazil are doing well, with Liverpool and Bayern Munich , those two players will be in the starting line-up for the World Cup , not Saliba . The Arsenal players need to be careful because the World Cup is on another level. Every player wants to be at the World Cup , but they want to actually play at the World Cup.

Bukayo Saka

Bukayo Saka is 24 now. What does he have to do to get back to his best? Maybe he has to change his football. Every player knows him in the Premier League . They have all played against him. They know his movement. He has to change something and bring something new into his game to surprise his opponents.

For the type of player Saka is, we are always looking at what they produce. How many goals has he scored? How many assists did he create? Then we will know if he has improved or not to compare with the previous seasons. He is still young at 24, and he started very young, but it doesn’t matter. He has to bring something new to his game. A big club has a big squad, so it’s about rotation as well.

Dream Signing?

Who would I sign for Arsenal ? To be honest, I think they’ve got a good squad, and they can do the same performance for next season. Even up front, they’ve got the wingers, but the only thing is maybe they still need one world-class striker or to change the style of the team.

When Arsenal play on the counter-attack, I think sometimes the midfielders have to look for Viktor Gyokeres to give him the ball at the first opportunity. Gyokeres always asks for the ball in front, in the space, but he doesn’t get the ball, because the midfielder wants to keep the ball. That is the style of Arsenal . Gyokeres has scored goals, but he hasn’t scored enough goals, so he has to reach a minimum of 20 goals next season, and it will be difficult for him if Arsenal are going to play the same way because he doesn’t really dominate the league physically like he did in Portugal .

Maybe you need a left winger because I don’t know what has happened to Gabriel Martinelli; he’s just not what he was, and Leandro Trossard is a good squad player, but you need something else. Would I prefer Khvicha Kvaratskhelia or Bradley Barcola for Arsenal ? Barcola . When you’ve got a striker like Gyokeres , you need players to give him the ball to score the goals, and that’s why maybe some of Arsenal’s style has to change, or Arsenal need to change their striker.