Harry Diamond
Rio Ferdinand has lavished praise on Manchester United defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka and believes combining the youngster with Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold would complete the ‘ultimate machine’ at full-back.
The former England defender was discussing the strengths of the two emerging full-backs and believes both are exceptional players, highlighting Wan-Bissaka’s defensive abilities and Alexander-Arnold’s forward threat.
The former Crystal Palace defender has developed a reputation as one of the best defensive right-backs in the Premier League, while his counterpart at Liverpool has registered an impressive 12 assists this season, second only to Kevin de Bruyne.
However, the duo are currently amongst a wealth of high-quality options for the England side at right-back alongside the likes of Reece James, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier.
Ferdinand admits that England manager Gareth Southgate could have a selection dilemma on his hands, but suggested that the Manchester United full-back could be utilised in a more central role in order to accommodate the pair.
“If you moulded them two players together, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Trent Alexander-Arnold, you’ve got the best player,” Ferdinand said in a Q&A on his Instagram.
“Aaron Wan-Bissaka one-versus-one, I’ve seen Sterling play against him and Sterling rinses everybody, [but] he finds it hard against Wan-Bissaka.
“One-versus-one he will match you physically, he will run with you, he will slide on the floor if you’re getting away from him a little bit more and he has to go into overdrive.
“He can cover people, unbelievable. He could play right side of a back three at Man United if they wanted to, I think he’d be brilliant there.
“On the ball nowhere near as good as Trent, but Trent defensively one-on-one isn’t anywhere near as good as Wan-Bissaka, so if you had both of them you’ve got the ultimate machine.
“It depends on the game, If I knew I was going to have to defend a lot and I need someone to lock down the winger I’m bringing AWB on.”
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