Arsenal are hugely impressed with William Saliba, but Mikel Arteta has stayed away from comparing the youngster to Virgil van Dijk.
Saliba has been fantastic for Arsenal this season, after finally getting his chance following loan spells at Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille.
The 21-year-old signed for Arsenal from Saint-Etienne back in 2019, but spent the next season back on loan at the French club.
However, Arteta did not call on the centre-back in the 2020-21 season, and Saliba subsequently left for Nice before spending last season on loan at Marseille.
This time around Arsenal kept hold of Saliba despite Marseille s interest and have been rewarded by some superb displays, with the France international starting all eight Premier League matches.
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John O Shea is jealous of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but admitted his former team-mate is the perfect man to rejuvenate Manchester United.
O Shea will return to Old Trafford on Saturday with Reading for an FA Cup third-round tie that sees the Royals take on a United side flying following the sacking of Jose Mourinho and appointment of Solskjaer on an interim basis.
Solskjaer has guided United to four successive wins – matching Matt Busby s club record for a new man at the helm – and transformed the mood after reports of dressing room discontent under Mourinho.
Central defender O Shea, 37, could follow the Norwegian into management when he hangs up his boots but concedes he is unlikely to get a club with United s status.
He told a media conference: I m jealo…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is not prepared to reassign Trent Alexander-Arnold as a midfielder and stressed he will continue to use his vice-captain as best befits his side.
The 25-year-old was hugely influential in Sunday’s dramatic late comeback to beat Fulham 4-3, stepping into the number six position for the final 30 minutes and scoring the 88th-minute winner.
Alexander-Arnold’s development from an attacking right-back criticised for his defensive short-comings to a hybrid role continues on an upward curve since it was first implemented in April.
Scenes.
— Trent Alexander-Arnold (@TrentAA)
But it has progressed this season with him deployed as a genuine holding midfielder against Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup, again for half-an-hou…
Motherwell striker Kevin van Veen joked that journalists thought he was on the whisky when he revealed the goal targets he realised to become a player of the year candidate.
The 31-year-old Dutch forward, who joined Well from Scunthorpe in 2021, is the only non-Celtic player among the four nominees for the PFA Scotland Premiership player of the year award.
Van Veen is on the shortlist alongside the title-winning Hoops trio of Reo Hatate, Kyogo Furuhashi and last season’s winner Callum McGregor.
Van Veen has scored 25 goals this term for the eight-placed Steelmen, including 13 in his last 12 games, and is currently joint second-highest scorer in the top flight, alongside Hearts’ Lawrence Shankland, with 21 to his name.
Furuhashi has notched 30 goals in…
Sergio Aguero believes the Premier League will again be a two-team title race this season as Manchester City seek to overhaul leaders Liverpool.
City pipped the Reds to top spot last term but now trail Jurgen Klopp s men by six points in their bid to go three in a row.
The deficit will be halved as soon as Sunday if the champions prevail in a top-of-the-table encounter at Anfield.
But defeat could leave them behind Chelsea and Leicester City, who are two points further back, by the end of the weekend.
Despite the form of the teams below, star striker Aguero expects the challenge to come solely from Merseyside.
Liverpool has always been a tough opponent, Aguero told France Football.
But when I arrived, the team we were fighting for the ti…
Neymar scored a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Red Star Belgrade 6-1 in their second Champions League match of the season.
The Ligue 1 champions responded to their opening 3-2 loss to Liverpool with a commanding victory over the Serbian visitors at Parc des Princes on Wednesday.
Neymar s brilliant treble, which saw him draw level with Kaka as the top-scoring Brazilian in the competition s history on 30 goals, was added to by Edinson Cavani, Angel Di Maria and Kylian Mbappe.
Marko Marin got a consolation for the visitors, but it counted for little as they suffered a comprehensive defeat to Thomas Tuchel s side.
Goalkeeper Milan Borjan thwarted Mbappe at his near post as PSG started strongly, but he could do nothing to stop Neymar s superbly flig…
Milan coach Stefano Pioli insists Napoli s first Serie A defeat of the season has done little to alter the picture in the Scudetto race ahead of Sunday s clash with Roma.
Serie A champions Milan made a successful return to action following the World Cup break on Wednesday, beating Salernitana 2-1 after taking a two-goal lead within 15 minutes.
That result took the Rossoneri to within five points of leaders Napoli, a gap which the Partenopei failed to extend as they fell to their first league defeat of the campaign at Inter.
Milan ended an 11-year wait to capture the Scudetto with an outstanding run of form over the second half of last season, and Pioli feels they will need to produce something similar to see off the challenge of Napoli this term.
Not mu…
Oscar Tabarez was pleased with the performance of his inexperienced Uruguay side, despite going down 1-0 to Brazil.
Neymar scored a controversial penalty in the 76th minute of Friday s friendly at Emirates Stadium, after Diego Laxalt had harshly been adjudged to have fouled Danilo, who also handled the ball in the run up to the incident.
Bar a late Richarlison chance, the penalty was the only time Brazil had penetrated a makeshift Uruguay defence short of Diego Godin, Jose Gimenez and first-choice goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.
Things could have been different at the other end, too, had Alisson not pulled off a string of saves to deny both Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, and Tabarez believes the future is bright for Uruguay s youngsters, as he signalled out debu…
Ben Waine s late goal earned New Zealand a 1-1 draw with the United States, who ended the night on a low after the confirmation of Mauricio Pochettino as their new head coach.
Christian Pulisic looked to have earned victory in Tuesday s friendly with his 69th-minute finish, only for Waine to fortunately capitalise on some poor defending by the hosts a minute from the end.
A lacklustre first half saw just one shot on target from either side as the USA failed to make their dominance count, entering the interval with 66.4% possession.
But Milan s Pulisic emerged from the bench to spark the contest into life, rounding off a free-flowing move with a left-footed finish low into Max Crocombe s goal.
However, USA s dismal run, which has seen them win one of thei…
Gareth Southgate wants England’s players to be mentally “spot on” and grab their opportunity to impress as he experiments against old sporting rivals Australia.
The Euro 2020 runners-up can seal their place at next summer’s edition in Germany when they host holders Italy at Wembley in Tuesday’s Group C encounter.
But first comes just England’s second friendly since March 2022 after a run of 16 consecutive competitive matches came to an end with last month’s 3-1 victory at Scotland.
High energy levels on MD-1!
— England (@England)
Southgate avoided over-experimenting in Glasgow but still managed to try new things, just as he will in Friday’s sold-out encounter under the arch against the Socceroos.
“It’s one of the gr…