According to the Independent, Rio Ferdinand believes that Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka would be the ‘ultimate machine’ together.
Red Devils and England great Ferdinand compared the strengths of the pair whilst on an Instagram Q&A. Rio’s assessment of the pair shows that Gareth Southgate has plenty of quality options at right-back to call on.
England have Alexander-Arnold, Wan-Bissaka, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker and Reece James as challengers for spots at right-back – Southgate certainly has a welcome selection crisis on his hands.
Ferdinand hailed Wan-Bissaka’s ‘unbelievable’ defensive ability whilst also heaping praise on Alexander-Arnold’s unmatched ability on the ball.
Here’s what Ferdinand had to say on the pair:
“If you moulded them two players together, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Trent Alexander-Arnold, you’ve got the best player.”
“On the ball [Wan-Bissaka is] 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 [Wan-Bissaka] on.”
Alexander-Arnold hasn’t looked back since breaking into Liverpool’s team, Wan-Bissaka has also gone from strength to strength since his marquee move to United from Crystal Palace last summer.
Trent has won nine caps for England so far, with the Liverpool star beginning to establish himself as our No.1 option before Wan-Bissaka’s rise.
Wan-Bissaka was called up to England’s senior squad for the first time last August, but the combative defender was forced to withdraw from the squad due to injury.
Were it not for the dangerous Coronavirus pandemic spreading across the world, we’re sure that Wan-Bissaka would’ve had the chance to win his first cap in this month’s now postponed international friendlies.
England could very well head into the Euros – which have been delayed until next summer, with the two best right-backs in the world.