Montpellier forward Stephy Mavididi has backed William Saliba to “walk back into the Arsenal team next season” after hailing him as one of the best defenders in Ligue 1.
Saliba, who joined Arsenal in 2019 from Saint-Etienne for around £28million, is currently on loan at Marseille and he has impressed this season.
Mavididi has come up against the 20-year-old and he has been blown away by the centre-back’s ability.
The former Arsenal academy graduate has now backed Saliba to return to his old club in the summer and go straight into Mikel Arteta’s side.
“That guy’s a player,” said Mavididi, speaking in an interview with LiveScore. “He’s hands down one of the best defenders in the league, hands down. I think he’ll walk back into the Arsenal team next season.
“When I played against him last year I thought: ‘How is this guy not playing at Arsenal?’.
“He’s strong, good on the ball, he reads the game well. Sometimes you walk off the pitch and think - fair play man, respect.
“The defender has kept up with you, out tussled you, out quitted you, you have to say fair play, this guy’s a good player.
“He’s one of the best centre-backs I’ve faced. Everyone can talk about Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Jerome Boateng, but he’s up there.
“He’s the one that surprised me the most. I’m an Arsenal fan too and playing against Saliba I thought, we’ve got a very decent defender here!”
Stephy Mavididi was speaking to LiveScore. To read the full interview head to LiveScore’s News Section
