William Saliba made his competitive debut for Arsenal vs Crystal Palace on the opening weekend of the season.
The Frenchman impressed on his debut and helped Arsenal keep a clean sheet en route to a 2-0 win.
Following that game, Saliba was praised by plenty of pundits and fans, one of which was Gary Neville.
Neville, a man who has been known to be less than kind towards Arsenal in the past, compared Saliba to a young Rio Ferdinand: “He reminded me of a young Rio Ferdinand and he will become stronger and his body will become more coordinated, he’s such a young centre-back.
“Crystal Palace away is a tough game, they throw everything at you, they drive at you all the time, that’s a big night for him.
However, Rio Ferdinand has since responded to said comparison and labelled it madness.
“I broke the British transfer record at that time and people are drawing comparisons? It’s a madness! Give the boy some time! He’s doing well. But you don’t judge players when it’s all going well, you say, ‘Brilliant… I’d like to see the next phase’.
“When it all goes against you and it’s a little bit of distress I still want to see the chest popping out, I still want to see shoulders back and I still want to see you wanting the ball and see you on the front foot with that determination and desire… a lot of what we’re not getting at Man United.
“But Saliba he is showing great potential. Young player of the year in France last year but he’s got a lot to do to make sure he stay in the team but he started off very, very well.”
