Rio Ferdinand is certainly a man who knows a thing or two about being a top-class defender.

Indeed, Ferdinand was one of the best centre-backs of his generation.

William Saliba says Ferdinand was brilliant during his pomp, and he’s not wrong.

Since his playing days, Ferdinand has transitioned into punditry, and he’s never afraid to share his opinion on the state of modern defending.

Ferdinand recently made a claim about Virgil van Dijk, stating that he believes Jaap Stam was better than the Liverpool captain, and now, he’s been discussing another modern-day great and one of his former teammates.

Indeed, speaking to Mail Sport, Ferdinand has been comparing some of the game’s great centre-backs, and he made a very interesting claim about Raphael Varane and John Terry.

Rio Ferdinand picks Raphael Varane over John Terry

Speaking to Mail Sport, Ferdinand picked Varane over Terry when he was debating some of the best centre-backs of the modern era.

Of course, Terry is a bona fide Chelsea legend, but Varane was a star at Real Madrid for a long time before he moved to Manchester United.

Things didn’t quite work out for Varane at Old Trafford, and he was released at the end of last season.

Varane would eventually join Como in Italy, but after just a few games for the Serie A club he called time on his playing career at the age of just 31.

Varane stats compared to Terry

It’s very interesting to compare Varane and Terry as players.

Both players, in their prime, were amongst the best centre-backs in the world, and their respective trophy hauls are a testament to their ability.

However, that said, Terry did have much greater longevity and staying power than Varane, but, Varane did achieve more in terms of the biggest trophies in the game, winning the World Cup and more Champions League titles.

	Raphael Varane career stats	John Terry career stats
Club Appearances	480	761
International caps	93	78
Trophies	15	15
Champions League wins	4	1
World Cup wins	1	0
Highest Ballon d’Or finish	7th	10th

Ultimately, it is very hard to separate these two, but with how football has changed, perhaps Varane has the edge as the more elegant defender on the ball compared to Terry’s more old-school style of defending.

In terms of Premier League legacy, Terry wipes the floor with Varane, but what Varane achieved at Real Madrid was truly exceptional it must be said.

These two will undoubtedly go down as two of the best defenders of the 21^st century, that’s for sure.

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