Gary Neville says he ‘can’t listen’ to what Arsenal fans are saying about their £27m player

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Gary Neville says he disagrees with what Arsenal fans have been saying about William Saliba recently.

The Manchester United legend spoke on his podcast following Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton yesterday. 

Mikel Arteta’s side were completely outplayed by the Seagulls and the loss has all but ended their hopes of lifting the Premier League title.

It’s fair to say that Arsenal’s form has dropped off dramatically since William Saliba picked up an injury back in March. Despite wins over Newcastle and Chelsea, the Gunners have been shaky defensively.

But Gary Neville believes that Arsenal can’t use the Frenchman’s absence as an excuse as to why they haven’t managed to get over the line.

Neville on Saliba

Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, the Sky Sports pundit said Arsenal should have been able to deal with Saliba’s absence given the size of their squad.

“I can’t listen to that, I’m sorry,” Neville said. “With 20 odd players in your squad, I cannot listen to that.

“City have had players missing, Liverpool have had players missing, every team in the title race has a player missing.

“If they have had five or six players missing I would have said that’s really unlucky but they have not had to experience that.

“Even today, Martinelli comes off, Trossard comes on, Zinchenko comes off, Tierney comes on.

“I know Martinelli is definitely a better player than Trossard, but Trossard is more than capable.”

While Neville makes a great point that one injury shouldn’t dent a side’s title hopes, it’s undeniable that Arsenal don’t have another centre-back on Saliba’s level.

The £27 million man had been a mainstay in Arteta’s side alongside Gabriel Magalhaes and neither Rob Holding nor Jakub Kiwior have been able to provide a similar level of quality.

There were concerns over Arsenal’s lack of quality depth at centre-back earlier in the campaign and this has come back to haunt them.

Nevertheless, the Gunners have enjoyed a brilliant season and performed well above expectations. Arteta will be fully aware of the need to add more depth to his squad ahead of next season.