Chelsea and Brazil winger Estevao knows a thing or two about coming up against a good defender and he believes Arsenal have one of the best around.
Estevao had a decent enough first season with the Blues and got plenty of experience in terms of coming up against the best in the world in the Premier League.
Still, given he’s still such a young man, he hasn’t quite been exposed to everyone in world football just yet.
Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean he can’t tell when he’s up against a defender of real quality and according to Estevao, Arsenal have one of the best.
Give us a more UNDERRATED Arsenal player over the last 25 years than Edu…we’ll wait
Estevao names Jurrien Timber among his hardest four defenders to play against
Estevao was speaking in a quickfire Q&A session for ESPN Brasil and while a lot of his answers to questions were Chelsea dominated, he found room for Jurrien Timber.
Asked who the four toughest defenders he has faced in his career so far are, Estevao named Timber with his first choice.
From there, he moved on to his Chelsea teammates, going with Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella and Jarel Hato.
Still, given the Brazilian went for three Chelsea teammates, the fact he mentioned Timber so quickly shows the respect he has for the Arsenal man.
Timber came out on top in their battle earlier this season, with the Gunners taking a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge and a 2-1 win at home before the EFL Cup semi final saw the Gunners also come out on top.
While Estevao was lauded by some for how direct he was during the game and his willingness to take on Timber, the Arsenal man got the better of him on more than one occasion.
It was reminiscent of the old Cristiano Ronaldo and Ashley Cole battles.
Timber, of course, will keep improving, while Estevao himself knows improvements are needed if he is to come out on top against the Dutchman.
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