Rio Ferdinand thinks two Man Utd stars are ‘better’ than Arsenal defender who impressed last season

Rio Ferdinand has submitted an interesting take on one Arsenal player ahead of the new season.

The Gunners are preparing for a new season, and there is plenty of excitement ahead of the new campaign after a summer of spending. Mikel Arteta has been handed more than £200million worth of new signings, with Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz all snapped up, and Arsenal may not be done there.

Arsenal are expected to be in the title conversation again this season after coming up just short to Manchester City last time around.

Whether they can live up to those expectations is another thing, but one of the key men in Arsenal’s title bid will be right-back Ben White, who has impressed since his arrival from Brighton. White adapted to play at right-back last season having previously been a centre-back, and he is likely to remain on the right having garnered plenty of praise for his performances on that side.

Though, not everyone is fully convinced, and Manchester United legend Ferdinand believes White is not quite up there with Red Devils stars Diogo Dalot or Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

“He’s not better than the two right-backs at Man United,” Ferdinand said on the SDS YouTube channel. “No, not for me [he wasn’t second best in the Premier League]. I thought Ben White was solid but that’s it. I think that’s the one area of their team where you look and think there is a room for a lot of improvement there, if they are going to challenge for more.

“White may be better defensively, but I think going forward Dalot is better than him.”

White was more defensively reliable than both of the United right-backs last season, but he is not naturally an attacking player, given he was previously a centre-back. It will be interesting to see if the England international takes another step forward in that department this coming season after an impressive campaign of last.