‘Don’t Think He’s Done It,’ Rio Ferdinand Refuses To Recognise Bukayo Saka As A ‘World-Class’ Player

Legendary English footballer Rio Ferdinand sparked a big debate on social media by refusing to term Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka as a ‘world-class’ player.

In a TNT Sports interview, journalist Laura Woods wanted to do a quick comparison between Manchester City star Phil Foden and Saka. She asked Ferdinand if he considered Foden to be a world-class player and the ex-Manchester United defender promptly replied, “I think you’ve got to be looking at him like that. I think what he does for the team is important for the team…I think he’s got to be in the conversation or nearing that least.”

Though, when it came to the Arsenal forward, Ferdinand felt that Saka would need to win titles to put himself beside the likes of Foden. “I don’t think he [Saka] has done it at the top level winning trophies in a team like this”, Ferdinand explained.

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Speaking further in the same interview Rio Ferdinand said that Phil Foden has been a much more bankable player in crucial moments. “He’s [Phil Foden] done that against the best teams as well, consistently”, Ferdinand added. Whereas for Bukayo Saka, the Manchester United legend believes that it is still too early to term the Arsenal player as ‘world-class’. He feels that Saka would need more opportunities to prove himself as a consistent star on football’s biggest stages. “I think Saka is more about, he needs the opportunity to perform at that platform, on that level, consistently and see where he’s at and we can consider him then”, Ferdinand added.

Despite dismissing Bukayo Saka as a ‘world-class’ player, Rio Ferdinand felt that the Arsenal star deserved to be in England’s front three. Ferdinand said that he would keep Bayern Munich goal machine Harry Kane on the top, Bukayo Saka on the right and Marcus Rashford on the left if he were fit for England. Ferdinand would then deploy Phil Foden as a number 10 to strike a balance in that attack.

Both Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka have been crucial for their respective teams this season. Foden has scored a total of 15 goals and provided 10 assists in 36 games for Manchester City in 2023-24 season across all competitions. Saka has scored 13 times and provided as many assists for Arsenal in 31 games. While there’s not much to separate between the two English stars based on these stats, their trophy cabinets change the conversation entirely. In his career with Manchester City, Foden has bagged a total of 16 trophies with the Pep Guardiola-coached side. Saka, on the other hand, has won one FA Cup and two Community Shield trophies at Arsenal.