This article is part of Football FanCast's Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers...

Former Leeds player Noel Whelan has told Football Insider that Ben White is better than Joe Gomez.

What's the story?

Liverpool have been linked with a move for the Whites defender, and were they to sign the 22-year-old centre-back, it would likely be the former Charlton academy graduate he would be in competition with having found himself behind first Joel Matip and then Dejan Lovren in the pecking order this season.

And Whelan believes it is the man playing in the second-tier who is the better of the two. He explained: "Ben White is good enough for Liverpool, in my opinion he is better than Joe Gomez.

"There is no doubt Ben White will be an England international sooner rather than later.

"It’s incredible to think he’d never played in the Premier League or Championship before this season but, deary me, he is brilliant.

"I’ve seen him every game this season and he’s the best centre-back I’ve seen at Leeds since Rio Ferdinand."

Not a bad shout

At first look, you might raise your eyebrows in regards to these quotes from the 44-year-old. After all, Gomez is an eight-time England international and has a Champions League medal to his name, whilst White currently plays in the second tier and is yet to make an appearance in the Premier League.

However, if you delve a bit deeper, then it can be argued that Whelan has a point. This season, White has been in fantastic form for Marcelo Bielsa's team, picking up an average WhoScored rating of 7.24 in the Championship. Gomez, meanwhile, has managed just 6.26 in the Premier League, and whilst he has done better in Europe, his 6.96 rating doesn't reach the same level.

The Elland Road outfit have by far the best defence in their division, having conceded just 10 goals, and White has appeared in all 19 matches. Gomez, meanwhile, has made just 13 appearances, but has conceded 15 goals during the 753 minutes of action he has seen.

Gomez appears to have been struggling recently. His bit-part role has led to speculation that he could be looking to leave the club should he continue to spend so much time on the sidelines.

White, however, is on the up, and is clearly playing with plenty of confidence. His ability on the ball, too - he has a pass accuracy of 85% this term - shows that he would fit in with Liverpool's team, where the centre-backs average between 80% and 90% as well.

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Of course, White would need to perform at the highest level to back-up Whelan's claims. However, he may be on to something here, and the Anfield team's interest could see the youngster get that chance to prove the ex-player right.

In other news, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain names Liverpool dressing room leaders.