‘Different class’: Jermaine Jenas now thinks £27m Arsenal man is ‘too quick and strong’ for opposition players
Jermaine Jenas has said that Arsenal defender William Saliba is too quick and strong for opposition players to deal with.
Jenas was covering the game for BT Sport as Arsenal played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The Gunners took the lead in the second half through Saliba’s centre-back partner Gabriel Magalhaes.
It was a deserved lead, with Arsenal the better of the two teams in the first hour.
Arsenal had squandered the best chance of the first-half, with Gabriel Jesus heading a golden opportunity wide.
Arsenal controlled much of the second half, and that was in part due to Saliba’s presence at the back.
His introduction into the team this season has been a revelation, making Mikel Arteta’s side so much more solid at the back.
Saliba sets himself incredibly high standards, and believes he’s been playing poorly in the last month.
That certainly wasn’t the case against Chelsea, as Jenas thought Saliba was too quick and strong for Graham Potter’s players.
Saliba is too quick and strong – Jenas
Jenas was very impressed with Saliba, and his partner Gabriel, believing they’ve been more important than Jesus and Oleksandr ZInchenko.
“(The partnership is) solid, it really is. A couple of players who have added a lot to this squad, a lot has been said about Jesus and Zinchenko coming in, but that partnership has really transformed things,” Jenas said.
“Saliba has been right up there for defenders playing in the Premier League this year.”
“He’s been different class. He’s the one player you don’t want to come up against one v one, he’s too quick and too strong.”
Jenas went on to awarded Saliba the man of the match award, which is no surprise given how brilliant he was.
The £27m defender is almost certainly going to be spending a few weeks away from The Emirates this month.
Saliba has broken into the French national team set-up and should be going to the World Cup in Qatar.
It’s a just reward for a player who has been one of the league’s best defenders this season.
Saliba has less than two years left on his current Arsenal contract, and efforts are being made to renew it.
Extending the 21-year-old’s deal would be as important as, if not more so, than Arsenal making a new signing in the next transfer window.
