Rio Ferdinand’s brutal rule as Mikel Arteta approaches his Arsenal dream

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For a change, there is some good news for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

After suffering back-to-back defeats at the start of the new Premier League season, the Spaniard may argue he was late in changing his luck ahead of Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup second-round match away to West Bromwich Albion.

And he’s got that in the form of multiple boosters in injury, fitness, and availability.

Kieran Tierney and Gabriel Martinelli, who were knocked out by Chelsea, are back in full training, as are Alexandre Lacazette, Hector Bellerin and Alex Ronarson who all missed Sunday’s 2-0 defeat.

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On top of that, Martin Odegaard has settled the visa issues that prevented him from making his Arsenal debut at the weekend after his £34m move from Real Madrid was confirmed last Friday.

But perhaps the biggest boost is the one Gabriel Magalhaes gave to training with the first team.

Seen at Saturday’s session in London Colney, the Brazilian spent the summer recovering from a knee injury that eventually cost him a gold medal at the Olympics.

While he has yet to fully train, it appears it is only a matter of time before he is, and that means Arteta is one step closer to launching his dream of Arsenal heartthrob.

Having splashed out £50m on Ben White in the summer transfer window, one could assume he would be the first choice in the right central defense as the season progresses, but who to share has been a cause of controversy among Gunners supporters.

However, a good number of fans are clearly not convinced that Pablo Mari is the answer given his pre-season struggles and against Chelsea.

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As a result, Gabriel is left-footed, faster and more aggressive than Marie, making him tick all the boxes for Wyatt’s ideal defensive partner – especially if Arteta plans to continue playing a fine line this season.

Although Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand does not believe the White-Gabriel partnership will solve Arsenal’s defensive problems as he has issued a very harsh judgment on the pair.

“I still don’t think that’s good enough, believe me,” Ferdinand said on Vibe with Five Podcast. “This back line, and they are central defenders as well, I think he is still being physically bullied.

Rio Ferdinand has issued his verdict on the possible pairing between Ben White and Gabriel at Arsenal.

“They both get bullied, believe me. Physically, Ben White, his game is not about the body, and his game is about reading situations like John Stones a little bit younger and still wet behind his ears.

“Even last year when he was playing at Brighton, when they played three defenses and everyone was fit, he didn’t start in the center of defence.

“Listen he has potential and I’m not saying they shouldn’t have bought it, but for £50m all I’m saying is you don’t get a proper Premier League-certified defender.

“You get someone with potential to grow, you hope, into it.”

The transfer window is in full swing and things are starting to pick up with Edu and Mikel Arteta’s dealings in the Emirates.

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Arsenal fans are hoping White and Gabriel can prove Ferdinand wrong if or when they have the opportunity to join each other’s side at the center of defence.

Although, it will take a little longer before this dream pairing becomes available for selection at the same time.

While Gabriel still has to return to full training, White is currently out after testing positive for Covid-19 which will result in him missing the West Brom game and mean he doubts facing Manchester City on Saturday.

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