William Saliba lauded as one of the ‘best’defenders in the world

William Saliba has been impressive with Lyon this season.

The Arsenal defender who is currently on loan with the French club is yet to make his Arsenal debut since his arrival in 2019 from Saint-Etienne for £27 million.

Stephy Mavididi who came through Arsenal’s academy believes Saliba is one of the best centre-backs in Europe.

‘That guy’s a player,’ Mavididi said of Saliba to LiveScore.

‘He’s hands down one of the best defenders in the league, hands down. I think he’ll walk back into the Arsenal team next season.

‘When I played against him last year I thought: ‘How is this guy not playing at Arsenal?’.

‘He’s strong, good on the ball, he reads the game well. Sometimes you walk off the pitch and think – fair play man, respect.

‘The defender has kept up with you, out tussled you, out quitted you, you have to say fair play, this guy’s a good player.

‘He’s one of the best centre-backs I’ve faced. Everyone can talk about Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Jerome Boateng, but he’s up there.

‘He’s the one that surprised me the most. I’m an Arsenal fan too and playing against Saliba I thought, we’ve got a very decent defender here!’

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