'Arsenal only have ONE world class player'

Stuart Telford

• 25 Apr 2024 18:00 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal may be top of the Premier League, but they only have one world class player according to former England striker Gabby Agbonlahor.

The Gunners lead the way in England, four points clear of Manchester City although having played two games more than the champions.

Bukayo Saka is their top scorer with 14 goals and nine assists, Martin Odegaard has become Captain Fantastic and Declan Rice has won plaudits far and wide since his £100 million summer arrival from West Ham.

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But none of those fit the 'world class' bracket of footballer according to former Aston Villa striker Agbonlahor, who scored one career goal against the Gunners.

"I was having this debate with a taxi driver yesterday who was an Arsenal fan," he told talkSPORT. "He said to me: 'Which Arsenal player do you think is or will become world class?'

High praise

"The only one I could name was [William] Saliba.

"I said Odegaard and Saka are very, very good players but I wouldn't say they are two players that would be on Real Madrid’s radar, whereas Saliba, I would."

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Saliba is valued at €58.5 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm - a €28.5m increase on the €30m they paid Saint-Etienne for his services in the summer of 2019.

FootballTransfers' data partner SciSports tags Saliba's potential skill at 141.3, which is well clear of the next-best Madrid player at centre-back: Eder Militao with 121.8.

Odegaard was once a Real prodigy, joining the club as a 16-year-old back in 2015. He struggled to break into the first-team, though, and had loans at Heerenveen, Vitesse and Real Sociedad before finding his feet at Arsenal.

Saliba is under contact until the summer of 2027, and like the rest of the aforementioned, is unlikely to be heading to Madrid or anyone else anytime soon.