Rio Ferdinand has delivered his verdict on who he thinks is the
better center-back – Arsenal’s William Saliba or Manchester United star Lisandro Martinez.
The Premier League is home to some of the best central defenders in the world.
Virgil van Dijk held that throne for many years but since the start of the 2022/23 season, an argument can be made that Arsenal star Saliba is up there.
Some Manchester United fans will argue that Martinez deserves to be in the conversation because he is a phenomenal defender when he’s fully fit.
Ferdinand has now delivered his verdict on who’s better out of the Argentine and Saliba.
Rio Ferdinand reveals who’s the better defender – William Saliba or Lisandro Martinez
Arsenal signed Saliba from Saint-Etienne back in the summer of 2019 for just £27 million (Goal).
The Frenchman went back to ASSE on loan, but many people expected him to be integrated into the Arsenal first-team once he returned.
However, Mikel Arteta was at the helm when Saliba came back,
and the Gunners boss was adamant that he wasn’t ready for the English game.
Saliba was sent out on loan two more times – first to Nice and then to Marseille. He was fantastic at both clubs and returned to Arsenal in 2022 to become a regular.
The France international has been unbelievable since and in many people’s eyes,
Saliba is the best center-back in world football right now.
Ferdinand believes that as well. He said on his YouTube channel: “If I am going to pick a center-half to play in my team, the first center-back on my team would be Saliba.”
When his podcast co-host Stephen Howson claimed that Martinez
was the best center-back in the world, Ferdinand quickly shut him down.
The Manchester United legend said: “No, man, that’s bias. They would be an unreal partnership, by the way, the two, unreal partnership, but he’s not, he’s not.
“If you ask any center-forward, I don’t think they are going to say Martinez over Saliba right now.”
Lisandro Martinez could’ve been Saliba’s teammate at Arsenal
Martinez, when he has played, has almost always been fantastic for Manchester United.
The Argentina international, who is currently on international duty at Copa America,
is United’s best defender, and they missed him when he was injured in the 2023/24 season.
Manchester United fans will be hoping Martinez will be fit next term, but if Arteta had his way back in the summer of 2022, the Argentine would’ve been wearing the famous red and white.
Arsenal tried hard to sign Martinez from Ajax in 2022. They even looked like the favorites at one point. However, United won the race for him in the end and Arsenal signed Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City instead.
One can only wonder how good Martinez would’ve been under Arteta. However, if Arsenal had signed him, we think he would’ve been a left-back rather than a central defender.