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Tom Huddlestone has revealed he considers former Manchester star Rio Ferdinand to be the “best” centre-back in Premier League history.
Speaking on TalkSPORT, Huddlestone – currently a playing coach at Old Trafford for the Under-21 team – described how there were three candidates for the ‘GOAT’ category in central defence in England’s top division.
The 37-year-old paid tribute to Vincent Kompany, Sol Campbell and Virgil van Dijk but put another United legend – Jaap Stam – and John Terry on the podium alongside Ferdinand.
Huddlestone was quick to reiterate that Ferdinand would be number one, however; with good reason.
Following the centre-back’s controversial move from bitter rivals Leeds for just under £30 million (a world-record fee for a defender in 2002), Ferdinand would go on form one of the pillars of the rebuild from the treble-winning squad under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Six Premier League titles, four Community Shields, three League Cups, one FIFA Club World Cup and a Champions League trophy promptly ensued across an illustrious twelve-year career at Old Trafford.
Huddlestone recounts believing Ferdinand to be the “best defender in the world” at the time of the 2002 World Cup. The midfielder even believes Ferdinand could have played alongside him in midfield if he had wanted such was the centre-back’s ability on the ball.
“[Ferdinand was] cultured, good on the ball, if he wanted to play in midfield he probably could have from a young age. Yeah, Rio was class,” Huddlestone contends.
It’s a testament to Ferdinand’s quality as a defender that he was as dominant as he was in the early noughties, despite possessing a skillset which would have translated perfectly to the modern game.
It is rare to see a centre-back who is so strong physically yet equally strong with the ball. While Van Dijk reached this unusual apex for a few seasons at Anfield, Ferdinand displayed this combination for over a decade at Old Trafford.
One man who would be justifiably aggrieved by Huddlestone’s assessment, however, is Ferdinand’s partner in crime, Nemanja Vidic.
The Serbian was as essential to United’s success in this period as his English teammate, demonstrating a defensive prowess and intensity which struck fear into opposition striker’s hearts. He’s also the only defender in Premier League history to win the Player of the Season award twice.
Vidic deserves to be right there next to Ferdinand and Stam on your list Tom, at the expense of John ‘Slippy’ Terry, for an all-United podium.
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