Oleksander Zinchenko believes that Arsenal’s William Saliba has the potential to become the finest defender in the world if he can work on his communication skills, accept leadership responsibilities, and be willing to push his colleagues.
The Ukrainian claims that the Frenchman was the player who most surprised him during his first few months at Arsenal. Referring to Saliba as Rolls-Royce, he claims the Arsenal No. 2 can do it all while acknowledging that as a centre back, the 22-year-old is on a different level due to his self-assurance when he has the ball on his feet.
“Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce. So good. I love him so much. Absolutely,” the Ukraine international told Ferdinand on Five when asked if Saliba can become the best centre-back in the world.
“I did not know him before I came to Arsenal. When I saw him in the first training session, I said, Who is this guy?’ The first game against Chelsea in pre-season, zero mistakes. When he scored the goal against Bournemouth, I went on my knees because I said, ‘This guy, he can do everything.’
“He can do everything. I played 100 games, I did not score yet, and he did in two games. Defensively, he makes no mistake. He is so calm on the ball. For me, the difference between a world-class centre-back and a good one is when you play with the ball when you can put the ball out and take no risk.
“This guy is on a different level. It seems like there is still a lot of space to improve. He needs communication, to be a leader, to push the others and manage them.”
We cannot emphasise enough how crucial William Saliba is to Arsenal’s defence. Given how unsteady the Arsenal defence was without him over the final two months of the previous season, some would argue that his absence cost Arsenal the league. Fortunately, he is back fit and ready to continue his brilliance in the PL for years to come with the new deal he signed a few weeks ago.
Darren N
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Well be certainly did not look “world class” against Monaco.
Along with marts and saka these 3 have the highest ceiling ,if all 3 can stay fit I believe we will have a chance this season coming away with some kind of cup
Saliba has room for improvement but he’s not as exposed as Magalhaes on the left.
White helps out to a great deal on the right, somthing tells me Saliba will be tested more in the upcoming campaig.
All these experiments in preseason will be put to the test, one of these experiment the gaffer seems hell bent on is Timber on the left.
Not sure about the wholeworld,butSaliba was,IMO definitely the very best CB the Prem had last season.