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Gerard Pique says Manchester United had a defender who was better than John Terry
Manchester United have had their fair share of legends over the decades.
Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney… the list of Red Devils icons goes on and on.
Man United have also had arguably the best manager in English football history in Sir Alex Ferguson.
Now, Barcelona and Spain football legend Gerard Pique has given his verdict on a Red Devils defensive icon who he deems “the best of all time” in the Premier League.
Pique, speaking on , raved about Rio Ferdinand, who he deemed better than John Terry.
The 37-year-old, who spent time at Man United’s academy as a youngster and made his professional debut at Old Trafford, said Ferdinand had always given him plenty of advice.
We were very similar playing,” Pique told talkSPORT.
“And when I was there for me he was the guy to see what he is doing, to learn from him, he gave a lot of advice at the time which was very good to me.
“I consider him also, some people say John Terry, for me Rio was the best of all time in the Premier League, at least from what I saw.
“On the pitch he was incredible, he performed always at a very high level.”
How did Gerard Pique fare at Manchester United?
Pique began his football journey at Barcelona’s La Masia but turned down a contract with the Catalan club to join Manchester United in 2004.
The decision proved controversial at the time, reporting that the then 17-year-old ’caused a huge stir’ and Barca were ‘left fuming at the decision’.
Pique came through the ranks at Man United and ended up making 23 competitive appearances for the Red Devils, as per .
The Spaniard’s time on the books at Old Trafford also saw him take in a loan at Real Zaragoza during the 2006-07 campaign.
As per the , there were arguably three key reasons why Pique swapped Man United for a return to Barcelona in 2008.
The first was strong competition in the first-team with players blocking his path; the second was a poor performance in a 1-0 loss to Bolton that seemingly made Ferguson lose his faith in him; and the third was the fact that Barcelona was home.
Rio Ferdinand is a Manchester United legend – opinion
It’s good to hear Pique lavish such praise on Ferdinand, an absolutely world-class defender in his heyday, and one who helped the Red Devils maintain such a golden age.
I’m old enough to remember when Man United signed him from Leeds United back in 2002 for a £29million fee.
That may not sound like much in today’s footballing world, but at the time it made him the most expensive British footballer and the world’s most expensive defender.
In 2020, Sky Sports worked out that Ferdinand’s transfer fee, adjusted for inflation, would’ve worked out at £121.7million in today’s money.
And yet, there’s no denying that he was worth every penny for the Red Devils.