Arsenal star William Saliba is currently regarded by many as the world’s best defender but a West Ham man has been better.
Arsenal and France centre-back William Saliba is a Rolls Royce of a defender.
Both West Ham and Arsenal have a rich history of top class defenders.
From Bobby Moore through to Alvin Martin and Rio Ferdinand at West Ham.
And from Tony Adams, Martin Keown and Sol Campbell through to the likes of Saliba in the modern day at Arsenal.
Currently Saliba is seen by many as the best central defender in the Premier League and one of the best in the world.
Meanwhile West Ham’s defence was among the worst in the top flight last season, shipping a club record 74 league goals.
Mikel Arteta prioritised making his team harder to beat in his quest to improve the Gunners.
And his compatriot Julen Lopetegui clearly saw that as his priority when he came in at West Ham in the summer.
Alongside technical director Tim Steidten, Lopetegui almost completely overhauled the defence.
Out went Angelo Ogbonna, Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd, Ben Johnson and – on a permanent deal – Thilo Kehrer.
In came Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo and Aaron Wan-Bissaka for a combined £85m once the Frenchman’s permanent deal is activated after five Premier League starts.
In terms of benchmarks when it comes to defenders, it is Arsenal’s Saliba who has become the gold standard.
After an underwhelming start West Ham have improved of late.
Kilman and Wan-Bissaka have been superb from the get go after arriving in east London.
Lopetegui has been drip-feeding Todibo into the team, much to the frustration of fans.
West Ham star Kilman is better than Saliba in key areas
But he looks to have been vindicated as the 24-year-old former Barca man seriously impressed on his first two Prem starts.
So much so West Ham fans have already started copying the Saliba song sung by their Arsenal counterparts.
It is Kilman who has impressed most of all West Ham’s summer signings thus far.
And it seems with good reason.
Amazingly the West Ham star is better than Arsenal’s Saliba in five of nine key areas.
WhoScored are the world’s leading football data analysts.
Powered by Opta statistics the site provides deep insight into players and teams.
Now a WhoScored comparison between Kilman and Saliba shows the West Ham man has bested the Gunners star in many elements of their games so far this season.
Both players have played all seven games – 630 minutes – for West Ham and Arsenal in the league thus far.
Saliba is clear of Kilman in terms of passing accuracy with the Frenchman boasting a 95% rate compared to Kilman’s 88%.
In terms of building from the back, though, Kilman – who is so comfortable on the ball due to his Futsal background – is far superior to Saliba.
The Hammers star has made 151 forward passes – some 57 more than Saliba.
Kilman edges out the Gunners defender in terms of aerial duels too, winning 12 to Saliba’s 11.
Although Saliba’s ratio of winning aerial duels is marginally higher – 55% to 54.55%.
Where Saliba shows his class and is well clear of Kilman is in ground duels.
The Arsenal star has won 27 of them compared to Kilman’s 10. As a result Saliba’s ground duel success rate is 71% compared to the West Ham star’s near 56%.
The last three absolutely fundamental areas for defenders all belong to Kilman, though.
The 27-year-old Hammer has made 32 clearances to Saliba’s 23.
Kilman shows his reading of the game is elite level by making 10 interceptions – double the five of Arsenal’s main man.
When it comes to ball recoveries, it’s no contest either with Kilman making 35 to Saliba’s 13.
On that basis it is shocking he has not been called up for England.
If Kilman keeps this up he will surely be knocking on the door for the November internationals.
And to think some West Ham fans were worried the club had overpaid.
On this evidence £40m looks like great business.
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