William Gallas has warned Arsenal fans to "calm down" when it comes to William Saliba, believing there are four Premier League centre-backs that are still a level above.
Saliba has made a superb start to the season, playing every minute in the Premier League to help Arsenal make an unbeaten start domestically.
The Frenchman was particularly impressive in the win over Manchester City before the international break, as he and Gabriel kept Erling Haaland incredibly quiet throughout the 90 minutes.
However, Gallas has claimed there is too much hype surrounding Saliba, who he feels needs to make more of an impression for France before he can be talked about as one of the world's best.
"Let’s calm down about William Saliba," Gallas told Lord Ping. "That’s a problem with the modern media, and discussion like this isn’t good for the players. Some of them can’t deal with that pressure.
"I like Saliba, and I think he’s a really good player, but as far as I’m concerned, the best defenders in the world have to play in their national teams and be a constant in their starting XI."
Gallas labelled Chelsea's Thiago Silva a "truly world-class defender", believing the 39-year-old is still one of the very best, and included Josko Gvardiol in that category too.
There were two more inclusions on Gallas' list of world-class centre-backs, with Manchester United defender Raphael Varane making the cut despite his injury issues.
"There’s also Raphael Varane," Gallas said. "He may not be at his best at the moment, but what he’s achieved speaks for itself.
"Virgil Van Dijk is great, too, even if he’s not quite been the same since his injury. He was top-class back then, but he’s making some mistakes now. He’s not perfect, but he’s still very good.
"I’d say those are the world-class defenders I can think of."
