Rio Ferdinand has said on his Youtube channel that Arsenal central defender William Saliba should not be compared to him right now.
The former Manchester United and Leeds United central defender has said that people should not compare Arsenal youngster Saliba to him right so early on his career in the Premier League.
Ex-United star Gary Neville recently compared Arsenal centre-back Saliba to Ferdinand.
Rio Ferdinand on Arsenal centre-back William Saliba
Ferdinand said about comparisons between him and Saliba on his YouTube channel: “People are drawing comparisons. It’s a madness. Give the boy time, man, give him some time, but he is doing well.”
The pundit added: “Saliba is showing great potential. Young Player of the Year in France last year. He has got a lot to do here to make sure he stays in the team, but he has started off very very well.”
Stay calm
In football, we tend to get carried away by a player’s few good performances, and get equally pessimistic when he does not play well for two or three matches.
That’s football.
However, in our view, we need to give young players such as William Saliba time to grow and develop, and we must show them patience.
Yes, Saliba has done well in his two Premier League appearances for Arsenal so far this season, but that does not mean that he is the second coming of Rio Ferdinand.
Now, if the 21-year-old goes through a bad spell after a few weeks, we should not be quick to write him off either.
Saliba is only 21, and despite his obvious progress during his loan spells in France, he is still not the finished article.
The France international will make mistakes, and when he does them, his manager Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal fans need to stay positive about him.
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