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Who makes the cut?

The 3 Arsenal players that Robert Pires believes would get into the best Invincibles XI

The side that Mikel Arteta has built in recent years is undoubtedly Arsenal’s best since their legendary ‘Invincibles’ side of 2003-04 – while Gunners legend Robert Pires believes that three of their current stars would get into that iconic team.

Speaking to Sport Bible, Pires was tasked with going through every position on the pitch and was tasked with choosing one of Arteta’s current-day lieutenants against his Invincible team-mates.

It’s unsurprising that the former France international skewed heavily towards that unforgettable title-winning team, but he evidently has lots of respect for this current Gunners team. Here are the three players he suggested would challenge for a place in the Invincibles’ best XI.

RM: Bukayo Saka

Pires debated over the answer for a good few seconds, and he opted for the current Arsenal talisman over Freddie Ljungberg. Saka has been a shining light for Arsenal and one of the league’s best attackers in recent years.

Every year he seems to level up in terms of his quality and output and he has been key for England as well. With 67 goals and 63 assists in over 250 games, he currently remains their best player. Ljundberg’s best season was 14 goals and 11 assists and Saka has almost beaten that this season despite missing 16 games.

Interestingly, Pires was heavily criticised for comments regarding Saka in September 2024. He claimed Saka lacked ‘consistency and experience’ and even rated Jeremy Doku as a better player. Later on, he retracted the comments but he made up for it by selecting him over his former Swedish teammate. 

CB: William Saliba

Replacing Kolo Toure in the line-up, this looks like a fair shout from Pires. While Toure was extremely reliable, Saliba simply oozes class and is a key starter for club and country. Perhaps the air to Virgil van Dijk, he is still only 23 and will only get better.

Blessed with pace, strength and good ability on the ball, he has been a key figure for Arsenal in their title challenges and will likely be a key figure for years to come, as long as they can keep hold of him. And indeed, Arsenal have managed to retain so many gifted players, that the football bookies on this complete list of betting sites have all priced in Arsenal at 7/2 to win the Premier League outright, which makes them 2nd favorites at the time of writing.

Pires previously hailed Saliba earlier this season, calling him one of the best defenders in the league.  “William’s development is absolutely top-notch,” said Pires.”I am particularly impressed by his positioning. He hardly ever makes bad passes and never makes unnecessary fouls, which is a top quality. He has become incredibly consistent and fast.

“He is currently one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League.”


READ MORE: Comparing Arsenal’s 2023-24 Premier League record to the legendary Invincibles of 2003-04: Points, Goals…

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every player to appear for Arsenal in the Invincibles season?


LM: Gabriel Martinelli

We know what you’re thinking – did Roberto Pires, winner of the World Cup, the Premier League and FA Cup, place Martinelli over himself? He did but his decision was different to the two above, he joked that he was being humble in selecting the Brazilian.

The 23-year-old has developed steadily over the last few years under Arteta and surpassed 200 games in the process. He managed 15 goals in the league in the 2022-23 season but has failed to come close in all competitions since and he will need to improve that side of his game as he runs the risk of being replaced in the future with multiple attacking targets linked with a move.

He even compared Martinelli to himself in an interview: “He looks a lot like me because he’s a dribbler, he scores goals, and he is quick.

“He makes good calls, he plays simply when it’s necessary to play simply, and he goes for the challenge when the challenge presents itself. When he sees that he is one-on-one he plays for the team and that’s why I really like him. I know him a little bit, he’s educated, and he’s doing well at Arsenal, that’s for sure.”