Update: |Rio Ferdinand stuns host as Man United legend names three best Premier League midfielders News

Rio Ferdinand has named his three greatest Premier League midfielders, with the Manchester United hero snubbing Kevin De Bruyne.

Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard may have been arch-enemies on the pitch, with their allegiances to Manchester United and Liverpool respectively, but Ferdinand has sparked a fiery exchange on his podcast by claiming that Gerrard ranks among the top three midfield maestros of the Premier League era.

In an astonishing moment that left co-host Joel Beya visibly stunned, Ferdinand named Gerrard, Roy Keane, and Paul Scholes as the paramount trio, causing quite the stir whilst overlooking football icons such as Kevin De Bruyne and Patrick Vieira – much to the dismay and animated objections from his colleague.

Unwavering in his stance, the former United defender set rivalry aside to explain why he views Gerrard as superior to the likes of De Bruyne. The debate reached fever pitch during the Vibe with FIVE podcast, prompting Beya to facepalm in disbelief.

Ferdinand outlined his selection of all-time Premier League greats, stating: “They’re the names, I’ve got Vieira, De Bruyne, Lampard, Keane, Gerrard, Scholes,” as he listed his top midfield candidates on ‘Rio Presents’. “They’re my Mount Rushmore, my holy grail midfielders in the Premier League era.”

He celebrated each player’s ability to single-handedly dictate a team’s performance at any given time, hinting that Manchester City’s Rodri could eventually make the list. But when it came down to the final cut, he remarked: “I’m going to say Viera, Lampard and De Bruyne just miss (on my top three). They just miss out, yeah, they just miss out for me.”

Ferdinand went onto reveal his top three Premier League midfielders, placing Steven Gerrard above Kevin De Bruyne. After selecting former teammates Paul Scholes and Roy Keane, the ex-Manchester United defender said on his podcast: “The other one is Gerrard. Yeah (he’s above Kevin De Bruyne).”

Ferdinand praised De Bruyne’s skills but argued that Gerrard had a unique ability to perform feats akin to ‘Roy of the Rovers’. He stated: “Just a player, as a player I love watching De Bruyne and he’s done some great things. Gerrard done things that others… it’s like Roy of the Rovers, no-one’s doing that.”

He maintained his stance even when considering their respective honours, saying: “No, I wouldn’t (be saying different if their honours were reversed). We said who would you have as your best midfielders, who are your all-time Premier League players. I’m just saying who I prefer, that’s who I preferred.”

Describing Gerrard as a ‘Swiss army knife’ for his versatility, Ferdinand added: “Stevie was jack of all trades, he could do everything. He could be the holder, he could be right-back, he could be right-midfield, he could be a number 10, and he could be an eight… All the others, Lampard, De Bruyne and Vieira could all get in there.”

Ferdinand firmly dismissed any suggestion that De Bruyne was superior to Gerrard, stating: “(De Bruyne) better than Gerrard? No! De Bruyne’s not better than Gerrard on any day of the week. He’s not. I’m sorry, he’s not. He’s not, he’s not.”

He challenged critics to justify why they thought De Bruyne was better, saying: “I can’t have it, I’m sorry. Tell me why, why is he better? I’m not saying it’s a big difference… I’m just saying if you go clip for clip, Gerrard does him.”

Ferdinand concluded by acknowledging De Bruyne’s record as the top assist man but argued that it shouldn’t overshadow Gerrard’s ability to dismantle teams. He said: “Forget titles… (De Bruyne) is the top assist man, I get that. But you can’t say that and totally disregard Gerrard’s ability to open teams up. Ask Suarez, ask Torres.

“Would they have achieved half of what they achieved if Gerrard wasn’t playing? Goals, you’re talking about goals, you’re talking about creating chances.

“You’re talking like Gerrard was a myth… it’s an outrageous rate of winning (De Bruyne’s Premier League title record), but still… I’m sorry. I love KDB, don’t get me wrong, but I’m putting Gerrard in there. I’m sorry.

“He’s a Liverpool player, he’s a Liverpool player! He’s a Liverpool player, we weren’t mates at England… I’m not doing mates, if it was Mates FC, Frank (Lampard) would be in there because I grew up with him..

“I’m not saying it’s big. Like if I picked any of the other three in there, there’s a fair argument for all of them.

“Lampard’s the best goalscoring midfielder the Premier League’s ever seen. He has to be disappointed not to be in there. But I’m choosing who I would pay to watch and who I’d want in my team.”

In an interesting turn, Ferdinand disclosed an exchange he had with Gerrard concerning another Manchester City icon. “Steven Gerrard saw the Yaya (Toure) interview and DM’d me on Instagram the other day,” Ferdinand said.

“Talking about Yaya was the real deal. He said Yaya was a different type of problem than we’ve ever seen. He did add a layer to that – ‘Especially at that stage of my career’. I think prime time Stevie in his own head would be going, ‘Nah, no-one can do that to me’.

“I think that plays a lot sometimes. Prime time Steven Gerrard and prime time Frank Lampard saw a different Roy Keane. But a young Frank Lampard and a young Steven Gerrard saw THE Roy Keane, who they couldn’t get near.”