Carl Jenkinson names surprise £7.5m star as the best defender he ever played with at Arsenal

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Arsenal have had several top-quality defenders over the years.

The Gunners have the two best centre-halves in the Premier League right now in William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, and they’re both sensational.

The strength of Arsenal’s defence wasn’t always this high, especially in the second half of Arsene Wenger’s time at the helm at the Emirates.

Carl Jenkinson was a part of the squad then, and he has revealed who he thought was the best defender at the club.

Carl Jenkinson says Bacary Sagna is the best defender he has ever played with

Jenkinson spent five years on Arsenal’s books since joining the club from Charlton in 2011.

The Englishman was never close to being the first-choice at the club, but he was an Arsenal fan through and through and loved the Gunners as much as we do.

Jenkinson was teammates with amazing defenders like Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal and Hector Bellerin during his time at the Emirates.

He even rubbed shoulders with experienced defenders like Mathieu Debuchy and Stephan Lichtsteiner, who were successful abroad before joining Arsenal.

However, on talkSPORT, when Jenkinson was asked about the best defender he ever player with, and he quickly named Bacary Sagna.

The Frenchman joined Arsenal in a £7.5 million deal from Auxerre in 2007 (Standard). He became a mainstay in Wenger’s side and went on to win play 284 times for the North Londoners.

Jenkinson says Sagna is the best defender he has ever played with.

“I’ll say Sagna,” he said.

“Just because he was so good. He could play right-back, centre-back, he was just a beast!”

READ MORE: Carl Jenkinson explains how Mikel Arteta takes after Thierry Henry with one key trait

What happened to Sagna after he left Arsenal

Sagna was a tremendous servant for Arsenal during his seven years at the club.

In 2014, after he helped the Gunners win the FA Cup at Wembley, the Frenchman decided to leave North London and joined Manchester City on a free transfer.

Saga spent three years there and then had spells at Benevento in Italy and Montreal in the MLS over the next three seasons.

Then, in 2020, the defender announced his retirement from professional football, bringing an end to a very commendable career at the top level.