Nuno Tavares was one of the best players on the pitch during Arsenal's 2-0 win over Newcastle United.
That is the view of former Manchester City defender Micah Richards who delivered his view on the Gunners left-back during his appearance on Match of the Day on Saturday night.
Despite the return to fitness of Kieran Tierney after he missed three games with an ankle problem prior to the November international break, Mikel Arteta has kept faith in Arsenal's £8m summer signing from Benfica.
And the Spaniard's decision to start Tavares against Newcastle paid off as the defender claimed an assist for Bukayo Saka's goal that broke the deadlock early in the second half and was a threat in attack all afternoon.
Such was the 21-year-old's impressive performance that it caught the eye of a former full-back in Richards who thought he was arguably Arsenal's best player even though Saka was named man-of-the-match by BT Sport.
"He was excellent and I'm not just doing it because he's a full-back," Richards said on Match of the Day. "He was one of the best players on the pitch.
"What I liked about him was he just didn't stay, every opportunity he went forward and he went forward with quality.
"[Emil] Kraft had an absolute nightmare against him today, he ends up fouling him here.
"This is what I am seeing with the modern day full-back, look at his position here [picture shows Tavares in a central position] this is where you would find a normally a midfielder and us full backs from back in the day wouldn't know what to do there.
"But look at the awareness from him to play Saka in.
"What is he 21? From Benfica, little chop here, he's confident now, he's having fun.
"£8m, he's keeping out Kieran Tierney who I really love. He's started the last five games and everything he did in his game today was just quality. He today was brilliant, he really was."
