Gary Neville believes an Arsenal star is the best in his position in the Premier League right now, and he’s also close to putting pen to paper on a new contract.
When naming Arsenal’s best players at present, the obvious names that spring to mind are William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Bukayo Saka.
Saliba and Gabriel can both stake a claim to being up there with Virgil van Dijk as the best centre-back in the league. Saka may have surpassed Mohamed Salah if the Egyptian’s early-season struggles are signs of decline and not merely a blip.
But according to Gary Neville, a different Arsenal player is already the best the Premier League has to offer in his position.
Speaking on an episode of The Overlap, Neville declared Jurrien Timber to be the best full-back in the league. That claim is inclusive of both right-backs and left-backs.
“What I was watching Arsenal vs Atletico, I was watching [Myles] Lewis-Skelly, obviously Timber played, you’ve got Ben White and [Riccardo] Calafiori, I thought all Arsenal’s full-backs are better than Liverpool’s, all four of them, that’s a big problem for Liverpool. Timber is the best full-back in the league at the moment.”
Neville went on to claim Timber is not far off matching Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal who in his mind, is the world’s best full-back right now.
He added: “I think Timber is almost, in my mind, I would class as being… do you know the guy that plays for Real Madrid? Carvajal.
“For me, he’s the best. And I think Timber’s the nearest to him at the moment, I see, in terms of being able to do that bit and do that bit, do the forward bit well enough, but definitely cuts everything off down his side.”
Jurrien Timber to earn massive pay rise
Timber and Arsenal are deep in discussions over a new contract that will see the Netherlands international secure a gigantic pay bump.
Timber currently pockets a base salary of £90,000,a-week, but TEAMtalk understands that will more than double to roughly £200,000-a-week.
Both the player and club are more than happy to continue their relationship. Talks are ongoing and are understood to be positive.