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| PA Wire |
Since retiring from professional football, former Manchester United defender Ferdinand has been working as a pundit, often appearing on TNT Sports’ coverage.
On Wednesday night, Ferdinand was tasked with naming a list of world-class players.
The 12 players were - Ederson, Kyle Walker, Rodri, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr, Harry Kane, Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, Kylian Mbappe, and Erling Haaland.
However, fellow pundit and former Arsenal man Martin Keown questioned whether Bellingham can be considered as world-class.
He said: “I think Bellingham is one I question. He’s in amazing form, what he’s doing at Real Madrid right now, but we look at Saka.
“Saka’s been the England Player of the Year. Bellingham hasn’t got a look in. Maybe Rio is being a bit mischievous with Arsenal fans.”
Ferdinand then explained: “They’ve actually got that list a little bit wrong, because Bellingham was on the list just below that on his own, edging into there. I think the thing that lets him not be on that list, for me right now, is just time. He will be there – he’s in world-class form. You just need that time – and that’s where I see Saka.
“Saka’s got that world-class potential, he just hasn’t been exposed to the knockout stages of the Champions League – the longevity is the difference. If you look at that list, you can see they’ve played in the top, most prestigious games and they’ve produced in those moments. And they’ve all done ridiculous things over a long period of time.”
Ferdinand received criticism from Arsenal fans after claiming Saka is not world-class, he said: “Not yet. Listen, I think Saka’s been unreal. I actually think he needs a bit of a rest, so many games for a young kid.
“But I think, it’s almost like what is world-class? He hasn’t done it in the Champions League, has he? I’m talking in the nitty-gritty stages. Saka’s top, don’t get me wrong. He’s not world-class yet.”
Marcus Chan
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