"He has all the qualities to do the same as John Terry" – Emmanuel Petit makes bold claim about 'tough' Arsenal star

Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit has heaped praise on Gunners centre-back William Saliba, claiming he could emulate Chelsea legend John Terry in the future.

Saliba, 21, has established himself as a vital member of Mikel Arteta's squad, playing at right center-back alongside Gabriel Magalhaes.

A right-footed ball-playing defender, the Frenchman arrived from Saint-Etienne for a fee of £27 million in the summer of 2019. However, he was sent out on three successive loans to France – Saint-Etienne, Nice, and Marseille. After being named the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year last season, he made his Gunners debut this campaign.

Speaking to Lord Ping, Petit asserted that Saliba has the acumen to come close to the level of Terry, who guided Chelsea to five Premier League titles during his 19-year spell. He said (via Metro):

"William Saliba is amazing. He has all the qualities to do the same as John Terry. He's very mature, came back to Arsenal with a lot of motivation and he's improved a lot as a human being as well as a footballer."

Speaking of Saliba's standout performance in his team's 1-0 Premier League win over rivals Chelsea on Sunday (6 November), Petit added:

"Saliba was a rock against Chelsea, I wouldn't like to be a striker playing against him because he's tough and his confidence is really entering his game."

Overall, Saliba has scored two goals and contributed one assist in 15 matches across all competitions for the Mikel Arteta-coached outfit.

With his contract set to expire in June 2024, the 2022 FIFA World Cup hopeful is currently locked in contract talks with the Gunners.

Manchester City to beat Arsenal to the Premier League title, as per Emmanuel Petit

Speaking to Lord Ping, Emmanuel Petit claimed that Arsenal will fall short of Premier League glory due to two glaring reasons. He said:

"I've been very pleased with the way that Arsenal have been playing since the beginning of the season. They deserved to win against Chelsea but I still believe there's a gap between them and Manchester City because of two things; the depth of the squad, you can't compare the quality of the bench between either side."

The 1998 FIFA World Cup winner continued:

"Secondly, Manchester City signed Erling Haaland to fill a void and if you compare him with Gabriel Jesus, I really like Jesus but he's not a match-winner and Haaland is. No one knows what Arsenal are going to do in the next transfer window, but they need to add quality players to the squad."

The Gunners are currently atop the 2022-23 Premier League table with 34 points from 13 games, two points ahead of Manchester City.