Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has said that Arsenal’s William Saliba is not the best defender, either in the Premier League or even in his team.
The 23-year-old Saliba was named the best player in Arsenal’s victorious Premier League match against Manchester United last Sunday (0:1), once again demonstrating an excellent game paired with Gabriel Magalleyas in the center of defense.
In two years of playing for Arsenal, Saliba has earned a reputation as one of the best defenders in the Premier League, but Ferdinand cannot call William the best.
According to Ferdinand, Saliba is inferior not only to Virgil Van Dijk from Liverpool, but also to the aforementioned Gabriel.
“I don’t think Salib is Arsenal’s best defender this season. It would be an exaggeration to say that he is the best in the league. I think Van Dijk has returned to his more or less best form.”
“Yes, Saliba and Gabreil, as a couple, are impeccable this year. This is the best combination with a big advantage. But individually, I think Gabriel is slightly superior to Salib. I say this from the matches I’ve seen.”
“I think Salib has a better vision of the game, he plays cleaner, he is a 100 percent cool defender, and sometimes I like to see that. At the same time, Gabriel, as I think, is a more aggressive and combative defender, he wants to go into one-on-one duels, he wants to engage in martial arts and comes out of them victorious.”
“He (Gabriel) is one of those who likes contact play, and he’s really good at it this season. He has won most of his duels, and he no longer has these moments of red shroud when he brings a stupid penalty or commits a stupid foul in his penalty area, as it was last year,” Ferdinand is quoted by the Daily Mirror.