Chelsea legend John Terry has hit back at Rio Ferdinand after the former Manchester United player named Virgil van Dijk and Jaap Stam ahead of the former England player when ranking the best defenders in Premier League history.
Speaking to Van Dijk on his YouTube show ‘Between the Lines’, Ferdinand and the Dutchman discussed how the Liverpool star compares to the best defenders in the history of the league.
Van Dijk put himself up there with the greats after transforming Liverpool’s fortunes since his £75m arrival from Southampton in 2018.
But, he has only one Premier League title to show for it, which pales into comparison to the likes of Ferdinand and Terry.
Nevertheless, when discussing abiut his top five, Ferdinand selected himself in first place with Nemanja Vidic in second and Van Dijk in third, ahead of Stam and Terry in who they place in fifth.
‘I believe I was number one. Serious,’ said Ferdinand. ‘I’m going number one straight away,’ said Ferdinand, before putting Vidic second.
After putting Van Dijk in third, the Dutchman disagreed by saying: ‘I’ve only won one Premier League!’ but Ferdinand replied: ‘Yeah I know but I think the impact you have on the team is massive and your attributes will put you right in the top tier.’
Speaking about Terry, Ferdinand said: ‘In terms of his longevity at that club, what they won, body on the line, a much better footballer than people give him credit for, could play off his left and right foot.’
But that wasn’t enough for Chelsea legend Terry, who wasn’t happy with his placement in Ferdinand’s rankings.
Responding on his Instagram, Terry suggested he should be far higher on the list.
The former Chelsea captain posted an Instagram story with a number of graphics to put his case forward, including the number of times he made the World XI and his win percentage higher than any other defender.
Terry accompanied his response with the comment: ‘Opinions are great but stats don’t lie…’
