“He’s not better” - Rio Ferdinand chooses between Lisandro Martinez and William Saliba while picking best centre-back in the world right now

Rio Ferdinand believes William Saliba is the best centre-back in world football right now over Lisandro Martinez. The pundit insists that any centre-forward would find Saliba harder to play against.

Arsenal secured Saliba's services from Saint-Etienne in 2019. After three seasons of loan spells and struggling to break into the starting XI, the Frenchman finally earned his place under Mikel Arteta in 2022.

Ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, Manchester United signed Martinez from Ajax for a reported £46 million fee, and the Argentine defender has been an important player since his arrival. However, in the 2023-24 season, he registered only 14 appearances across competitions as he struggled to remain fit due to injury issues.

Saliba, on the other hand, played every single minute of Arsenal's Premier League action last season as they battled it out against Manchester City in the title race. The France international formed a formidable partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes at the back, helping Arsenal concede the least number of goals (29) in the PL last season.

He also helped the Gunners keep the most number of clean sheets (18) in the league last season. While discussing the two defenders on his YouTube podcast Vibe with Five, Ferdinand was adamant that Martinez is not the best centre-back in the world.

The pundit said:

"No man, come on [Lisandro Martinez is not the best centre-back in the world ahead of Saliba now]. That’s bias. They would be an unreal partnership by the way. But he’s not [better than Saliba]. If you ask any centre-forward, I don’t think they’re saying Martinez over Saliba right now."

While William Saliba has won two Community Shields at Arsenal so far, the French defender is yet to win any major silverware with the north London club.

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Rio Ferdinand's prior comments about Lisandro Martinez and William Saliba

This is not the first time Rio Ferdinand picked Saliba over Lisandro Martinez when asked who was the better defender. During a This or That challenge on talkSPORT's official YouTube channel in 2023, Ferdinand was asked to pick between the two centre-backs.

He chose the Arsenal star over Martinez, claiming at the time that he could become one of the best centre-backs in the world, a notion that he currently believes.

Ferdinand said:

“I’ll go Saliba. I think Saliba could potentially be top, top, top."

However, Ferdinand acknowledged Lisandro Martinez's form during the 2022-23 campaign which he believes invalidated critics who cast doubts over him due to his short stature.

The Manchester United icon added:

“I think Martinez answered a lot of critics last year, a lot of doubters about his size and stuff like that, fantastic on the ball. But like this one [the comparison], I think also you’re helped by the team you play in. He’s in a very solid, consistent team, Saliba. Martinez isn’t.”