Arsenal have Premier League’s most underrated player as shock Chelsea comparison emerges

As the referee blew the full-time whistle at the Emirates Stadium, the Arsenal supporters in attendance and at home collectively breathed a sigh of relief. They had finally beaten Manchester City in the Premier League after eight long years since their last league victory over the reigning champions.

Since then, plenty of praise has come the way of Gunners defender William Saliba for the way he shackled City frontman Erling Haaland — and rightly so. After all, this is a man who holds the record for most Premier League goals in a single campaign.

Haaland tormented the north Londoners home and away last season but this term, he was unable to register a single shot on David Raya’s goal. There was talk of Saliba being the best centre-back in Europe — high praise indeed when you consider he is still just 22 years old.

There is no doubt in my mind that the French international deserved every plaudit he received. But what was noticeable was the lack of recognition for his centre-back partner, Gabriel Magalhaes.

Gabriel’s game has come on leaps and bounds over the last few seasons. In fact, there is a serious argument that he is currently the best left-footed centre-half in world football.

Maybe you could put Josko Gvardiol ahead of him. Potentially Alessandro Bastoni is more of your liking than the Brazilian.

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But what is clear is that Gabriel has become severely underrated outside the Arsenal fanbase. In the build-up to Saturday’s London derby between Chelsea and the Gunners, the usual combined starting line-ups have before rife on social media