‘BETTER THAN GABRIEL MAGALHAES’: Martin Keown thinks Arsenal have a £40k-a-week player who’s a better defender than Gabriel
Arsenal legend Martin Keown has heaped praise on William Saliba and claimed he’s a better defender than Gabriel Magalhaes following his performance against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League last night.
The Gunners were held to a 2-2 draw by Ruben Amorim’s side at the Estádio José Alvalade yesterday. Mikel Arteta will not be too happy with the performances of a number of players, but he’ll be delighted with Saliba.
The £40,000-a-week (Spotrac) Frenchman was the best player on the pitch last night.
Martin Keown hails William Salba after Sporting Lisbon 2-2 Arsenal
Arteta handed Jakub Kiwior his Arsenal debut last night, and the Pole struggled. He was partly at fault for Sporting’s first goal and didn’t really look confident for most parts of the game.
His partner in defence, Saliba, on the other hand, was on a completely different level. The Frenchman barely put a foot wrong in the entire game. He was incredible at the back for the Gunners and had a huge impact at the other end of the pitch as well with his goal.
Keown, who knows a thing or two about defending, is beyond impressed with Saliba. He hailed the Arsenal man on BT Sport after the game last night.
The Arsenal legend said, as quoted by The Daily Mail: “Just a word on Saliba, a player that Arsenal bought three years ago, and went out on loan for three seasons, you’d be thinking “am I really going to be an Arsenal player?
“This is his first season as an Arsenal player and in the first game of the season against Crystal Palace he was man of the match and he’s been brilliant ever since. ‘I think he’s growing in stature, just listening to him speak and the goal he scored tonight, his performance – he’s a proper central defender.
“He and Gabriel make for a really good partnership, I think he’s ahead of Gabriel. He’s doing everything you want, there’s a hunger, taking responsibility as he wants to get into the next round. He’s given everything for the cause. He’s very composed, strong. Again he’s got the ingredient, of pace.
“Look at the goal, I guess Tony Adams was noted for scoring at set-pieces and he’s got in on the act again – it’s a nice habit if your head is the first to the ball in either box. It’s a really nice header, keeps it down.”
Keown says Saliba is ahead of Gabriel Magalhaes
Arsenal have one of the best centre-back pairings in the Premier League – William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.
Both players have been absolutely magnificent for the Gunners this season, and folks on social media have often started debates over who is the better defender.
Keown thinks Saliba is ahead of Gabriel at the moment, but there’s honestly not a lot between them. They’ve played a massive part for Arsenal this season and are one of the biggest reasons why the Gunners are on top of the Premier League table.
The good thing for Arsenal is that they’re both young – Gabriel is 25 and Saliba is only 21. That means they’ll only get better in the coming years.
