Manchester City star Jack Grealish has named former Manchester United right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka as one of his toughest-ever opponents.
Erik ten Hag’s side sold Wan-Bissaka to West Ham for £15m in the most recent summer transfer window, a move which raised eyebrows among some pundits.
Grealish has played against some of the top full-backs in world football – and the 29-year-old is convinced that Wan-Bissaka is among the very best he’s faced.
The City winger appeared on Sky Sports and was asked who he thought fans would name as the top three full-backs he has faced across his career to date.
After mentioning City and England teammate Kyle Walker, who Grealish locked horns with when he was still at Aston Villa, he was then asked to name a second player and said: ‘Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
‘Yeah, [I’d have him in my top three]. I think he’s really good at one-vs-one defending. Sliding tackles… he loves it.’
Grealish was taken aback when told Wan-Bissaka had not been picked by fans, with supporters going for Dani Carvajal and Trent Alexander-Arnold instead.
It then emerged that fans had put Wan-Bissaka as Grealish’s fourth-hardest opponent, despite the City star insisting that he would actually be in the top three.
Wan-Bissaka has made eight appearances for West Ham since his switch to the London Stadium.
Michael Owen criticised West Ham’s decision to sign Wan-Bissaka after their 3-0 defeat to Chelsea last month.
‘If you’re West Ham, if you’re the manager, the recruitment officer, whoever you are at West Ham, and you’re wanting a full-back to play in this, the last person you go and guy is Wan-Bissaka,’ Owen told Premier League Productions.
Wan-Bissaka also faced criticism following West Ham’s 4-1 defeat at Tottenham on Saturday after he was nowhere to be seen in the build-up to Son Heung-min’s goal on 60 minutes.
‘I know they’re (West Ham) chasing it (the game) a little bit, but for me, Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s positioning there is poor,’ TNT Sports co-commentator Ally McCoist said.
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