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4 months ago
28 Rio Ferdinand has put his Manchester United ties to one side when claiming William Saliba trumps Lisandro Martinez as the current ‘best centre-half in the world’.
The former Red Devils captain previewed England’s forthcoming Euros semi-final clash, which sees them take on the Netherlands on Wednesday evening. The winner of the tie will then face either France or Spain in the final on Sunday, July 14.
Kobbie Mainoo and Luke Shaw are poised to feature in the match; the former will likely be deployed from the offset, while the latter remains a question mark due to his recent injury woes.
The left-back declared today that he’s ready to start, although he only made his first outing of the tournament against Switzerland on Saturday, coming on as a substitute in the closing stages of regular time to then feature for the whole half-hour of extra-time.
Should the Three Lions advance on Wednesday and then come up against Didier Deschamps’ men at the final hurdle, they’ll be dealt a mammoth task in how to break down France’s formidable backline.
Saliba, in particular, has received widespread plaudits for his scintillating showings thus far. He has featured in every match of his nation’s campaign, keeping four clean sheets in their five games played.
Ferdinand heaps praise onto shoulders of standout France star
“Their defence, on paper, is better than ours,” Ferdinand said of the 2018 World Cup winners. “Saliba and [Dayot] Upamecano have formed a really good partnership. They’ve been brilliant.
“I think if you were going to pick the best centre-half in the world right now. You’d go with William Saliba.”
After fellow United supporter Stephen Howson claimed Martinez was better than the Arsenal centre-half, Ferdinand retorted: “No man, come on. That’s bias, that’s bias.
“They would be an unreal partnership, by the way, but he’s not [better than Saliba], he’s not. If you ask any centre forward who’s better, I don’t think many will say Martinez over Saliba.”

