Gary Neville compared William Saliba to a young Rio Ferdinand after the Arsenal defender impressed on his debut.Saliba, 21, was made to wait a long time for his Gunners bow - since signing for £27million in July 2019, he's had three loan spells in Ligue 1.
But he showed Mikel Arteta what he'd been missing with an assured performance against Crystal Palace on Friday (August 5) evening.And it caught the eye of Sky Sports pundit Neville, who felt it was reminiscent of Manchester United legend Ferdinand.
He said: "The most important thing for young players is to play football, they get stuck in between first-team and reserves, he’s got football inside him.READ MORE: Arsenal fans think they're winning the league after battling to win at Crystal Palace"Look, I was massively impressed by him.
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.
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