Chris Sutton told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport on 606 that ‘you have to edge’ towards Rio Ferdinand when he was asked to pick between the Manchester United legend and Liverpool’s currently injured centre-half.
During his days at Manchester United, Ferdinand was seen as the Rolls-Royce centre-back of the Premier League and it’s fair to say that Van Dijk has displayed that for Liverpool during these past few seasons.
Unfortunately for Liverpool, they won’t have their star man available when they take on Manchester United on Sunday, as their Champions League hopes are in the hands of others.
Nonetheless, when Sutton was asked to pick between Ferdinand and Van Dijk, he issued this response.
“Oh wow, that’s a tough one isn’t it,” said Sutton. “Van Dijk has done wonderful things. Transformed that Liverpool backline.
“But Rio’s won more, so you have to edge towards Rio.”
The right time to have such an argument would be when Van Dijk has hanged up his boots.
Whilst both players have trophies in their cabinet, the key difference is that Ferdinand did it over a longer and sustained period, which is the tougher thing to do.
It will be interesting to see how Van Dijk reacts to Liverpool’s struggles when he returns next season and whether he can get them back to the top again.
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