Ben White has said Arsenal teammates William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães are the best centre-back pairing he has seen.
Saliba and Gabriel have been the foundation on which Arsenal’s improvement under Mikel Arteta has been built, with the Gunners boasting the Premier League’s best defensive record in each of the last two seasons.
White has featured at full-back as part of an impressive Arsenal backline and lavished praise on the centre-back duo. He said Saliba, who has emerged as one of Europe’s best at the Emirates, has no obvious ‘weakness’ and questioned whether he had seen a better pair.
“Unbelievable. I am not sure I have seen two better together,” White said on the defensive duo, speaking to Ben Foster for Amazon Prime Video Sport.
“Saliba is incredible, there’s nothing I can say is a weakness. And Gabriel, the threat he has in the box is scary. Every time we get a corner you kind of know you’re going to score if the ball is in an alright area.”
White also spoke on Arsenal’s improvement under Arteta, after consecutive runners-up finishes in the Premier League. He praised the Spaniard’s attention to detail and said his demands for defensive work from the front have helped Arsenal’s backline.
“There are so many details and you know what is going on based on what position everyone is in. Then you have to adapt to who is on the ball. The amount of defending he [Bukayo Saka] does for me is crazy, he never leaves me one-on-one.”
