"Best" - Gabriel Magalhaes in awe of Arsenal teammate after securing place in UEFA Champions League knockouts

Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhaes has shared his honest opinion on teammate and center-back partner William Saliba.

The Brazilian defender featured in a video with the club's media and was posed an array of quick-fire questions, one of which asked to describe Saliba in one word. Magalhaes replied:

"Best."

Saliba joined the Gunners in 2019 from Saint-Etienne for a reported £27 million fee. The France international did not feature in an Arsenal shirt in his first three seasons at the club, being loaned out to his former club Saint-Etienne, Nice, and subsequently Marseille.

He finally got his chance at first-team football under Mikel Arteta at the start of the 2022-23 campaign. Saliba formed an excellent center-back partnership with Magalhaes at the Emirates as the Gunners challenged for the Premier League title last season.

The north London outfit maintained 14 clean sheets in 38 league encounters last season when they dominated the top of the league for 248 days. Magalhaes featured in every Premier League match, while Saliba only registered 27 appearances after suffering a back injury in the final stretch of the campaign.

The Gunners' defensive form continues this season, conceding just 15 goals in 16 league matches and maintaining six clean sheets. This is certainly a testament to the strong partnership the Arsenal duo have formed at the backline under Arteta.

Saliba has played every single minute of the North London outfit's Premier League action this term, recording a goal and an assist each.

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"He is a great player" - Eddie Nketiah says Arsenal star is 'starting to shine' at the club

Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah has lavished praise on Kai Havertz. The English forward insisted that the Germany international is seeing a great upturn in form.

The Gunners signed Havertz from Chelsea in the summer transfer window for £65 million. He initially had a rather difficult start to life at the Emirates and struggled to find the back of the net.

However, the former Bayer Leverkusen forward seems to have turned things around at the Emirates. He won the club's Player of the Month award for November, scoring against RC Lens, Luton Town, and Brentford in recent weeks.

Nketiah has now predicted a bright future for the German attacker as he told football.london (via The Boot Room):

"He is a great player. It was always going to take time to adapt, being at another club and coming in, it’s normal it takes time. I think he has done well and he has just won player of the month."

"He is really starting to shine and he has got a lot of qualities. It is just about us as players being able to adapt off that and him learning our games too," he added.