Having played against the best of the best for years now, Vinicius Junior has an idea of which defenders truly belong at the elite level.
The Real Madrid superstar is one of the most devastating forwards in world football and it takes a defensive extraordinaire to keep him quiet.
After Brazil’s 1-0 win against England in their latest friendly encounter, the 23-year-old was especially complimentary about a colossus at the back for Manchester City.
Vinicius Junior says Kyle Walker is the best defender he has ever faced
Unsurprisingly, the defender who Vinicius Junior claimed is the best he has ever gone toe-to-toe with is Kyle Walker, who was hooked off due to suffering an injury during the contest.
“That’s why every time an injured athlete comes out, it’s very sad. Not only for the athlete but for all of us on the field and who want to help a lot to play against the best”, he initially said [via HaytersTV].
“[Kyle] Walker and I always say is the best defender I’ve ever faced and it’s always a very good duel. He respects me very respectfully and each one defends his side.”
Kyle Walker could see his legacy age like Paul Scholes’
Often, an argument that is often made to highlight how outstanding a midfielder Paul Scholes was is to quote the top players who sang his praises.
The same could be the case with Kyle Walker, as Vinicius Junior is one of the many elite wingers to have crowned him as their toughest opponent.
The Brazilian megastar joins his fellow countryman Neymar, who also told DAZN Canada in 2022 that the Englishman was the finest defender he had gone head-to-head with during his career.
Eden Hazard also named the £45 million defender as his most challenging opponent in the Premier League during an interview with ESPN, which is interesting as he was at his absolute best at Chelsea.
In the future, as occurs with several retired players, perhaps those who missed out on Walker’s career might question his greatness.
Some may argue that unlike modern-day right-backs like Trent Alexander-Arnold or Reece James, he lacked the same level of attacking influence.
But when looking back at the calibre of wingers who raved about Kyle Walker, the argument about how outstanding a right-back he was will become easy to make.