'He just had everything': John Terry says player Manchester United released is one of the PL's best of all time in his position
03/28/2025 03:15 PM
As one of the biggest football clubs in the world, Manchester United have had many of the world's best players turning out for them over the decades.
From the heroes of yesteryear like Sir Bobby Charlton and George Best to contemporary icons like Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney, there are plenty of legends who have represented the club.
Manchester United have won 20 English titles and three European Cups which means many of those who have represented the Red Devils are among the greatest in history.
Indeed, even players who turned out for some of Man United’s biggest rivals will have good things to say about some of the stars they used to face on the pitch.
Chelsea legend John Terry has now named a defender who spent 12 years at Old Trafford as one of the Premier League’s greatest of all time in his position.
John Terry lists Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand among his top four Premier League centre-backs
The player in question is Rio Ferdinand, who joined Sir Alex Ferguson’s side in 2002 from Leeds United and developed into one of the world’s best defenders.
Ferdinand’s career overlapped with that of Terry, with both defenders often fighting it out for the highest honours in the English and European game.
After picking himself as one of the four to make up his Mount Rushmore of Premier League defenders, Terry told Sportbible: “I’m then going to go Rio.
“I think longevity, playing at the top clubs, playing in the big competitions year in year out, winning trophies relentlessly in terms of that.
” For me, he just had everything… so 100 percent Rio’s in the conversation for me.”
Rio Ferdinand’s career
Ferdinand was born in 1978 and played for a number of youth clubs in his early days before linking up with West Ham’s academy in 1995.
He starred for the Hammers, making upwards of 120 appearances for them, before moving to Leeds in 2000 for a fee of £18million.
The fee was a British transfer record at time, and it also made Ferdinand the world’s most expensive defender, though he had lost that title to Lilian Thuram in 2001.
In 2002, Ferdinand joined Man United for £29million, becoming the most expensive British footballer in history at the time and the world’s most expensive defender for a second time.
Ferdinand, already a world-class defender, went from strength to strength at Old Trafford and won a multitude of trophies in the 12 years he was at the club.
In 2014, Man United opted not to renew his contract, and he left on a free transfer to join Queens Park Rangers, spending a year there before retiring in 2015.
Ferdinand won six Premier League titles, a Champions League, two League Cups, four Community Shields and a Club World Cup during his time at Old Trafford.
