Arsenal have a number of exceptional defenders on their books, including the likes of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.
Saliba and Gabriel have formed an outstanding partnership at the heart of the Gunners’ defence in recent seasons, dominating some of the best forwards in the world.
The duo are accompanied by excellent full-backs on either side of them, including Jurrien Timber, Ben White, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Riccardo Calafiori.
However, Arsenal Women’s player Kyra Cooney-Cross believes another defender in Mikel Arteta’s squad is one of the best she’s ever seen.
Kyra Cooney-Cross says Josh Nichols is the best ‘one-v-one’ defender she’s ever seen
Arsenal have a number of promising academy graduates developing at Hale End.
Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri burst onto the scene last season, while Max Dowman is making waves this campaign.
However, there are plenty more who are perhaps going under the radar, including right-back Josh Nichols.
Nichols made his Arsenal debut last season in a League Cup match against Bolton Wanderers, and was involved in each of the Gunners’ last two pre-season tours.
Speaking to the Athletic, Cooney-Cross surprisingly stated that the 19-year-old is the best ‘one-v-one defender’ she’s witnessed.
This is certainly high praise, and while Nichols has looked astute defensively in his limited outings for the Arsenal first team, his passing ability has stood out more.
The full-back will hope to secure a loan move before the end of the transfer window to continue his development.
Kyra Cooney-Cross says Myles Lewis-Skelly is ‘like a brother’
Cooney-Cross was speaking to the Athletic about training with Lewis-Skelly during the off-season in Portugal.
“Myles had planned to do an off-season camp in Portugal, so he invited myself and Josh,” she said.
“We would eat together, do strength work together, train together. We each had little cabins to sleep in, so it was like a little family camp.“
“Myles is like a brother. It was an amazing experience, and something I would love to do every single year. I had so much fun, and learned so much.”
A testament to Lewis-Skelly’s character, the 18-year-old is developing into a leader at his young age in the Arsenal squad, demonstrating his mentality consistently with everything that is said about him publicly.
Arteta will hope he continues his development this season and works his way back into the side after Calafiori was picked ahead of him in the opening two games.
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