Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard both say 22-year-old Arsenal defender is really ‘skilful’

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Arsenal stars Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard both believe William Saliba is a really skilful defender.

The Gunners are on a high after their fantastic win over Liverpool on Sunday. Everybody’s in a good mood and rightly so as Arsenal are right back in the title race now. Saliba will have to play a big part if they are to go all the way.

Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard think William Saliba is really skilful

Arsenal signed William Saliba from Saint-Etienne back in the summer of 2019.

It took the Frenchman four years before he could make his Gunners debut, but since then, he has been one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League.

Saliba is good on the ball, great without it, is fast, strong in the air and his positioning is tremendous. He is a complete defender who has the potential to become one of the best-ever over the next decade.

One trait that often goes unnoticed is Saliba’s skills. He has used his quick feet on multiple occasions to beat the press and always looks so calm while doing that.

Not everyone notices Saliba’s skills, but it looks like his teammates Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard are more than aware of his qualities.

In a video on Prime Video Sport’s TikTok handle, Jesus and Odegaard were asked to pick their five-a-side team using players with five-star skills.

As Odegaard looked around for options to include in his side, he said: “We have no defenders, know?”

Jesus replied: “Maybe Saliba can be here.”

“Odegaard agreed: “Maybe Saliba. He should be there.”

Jesus then added: “He’s skilful, him!”

William Saliba has struggled recently

William Saliba set a really high standard for himself after his phenomenal debut season for Arsenal.

The Frenchman barely put a foot wrong in the whole of last season, and his performances for large parts of this campaign have been fantastic as well.

However, in Arsenal’s last two Premier League games against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool, Saliba has partly been at fault for the goals the Gunners have conceded.

That’s very uncharacteristic based on what we’ve seen of the 22-year-old, but we’re sure he’ll bounce back strong. Arsenal need him at his best to have any chance of winning the Premier League title this season.