Rio Ferdinand was once outed by a lie detector after being asked whether he rated Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk as a better defender over himself.
The ex-Manchester United centre-back and six-time Premier League winner remains one of the best defenders ever to have graced the top-tier.
But league rivals Liverpool have found themselves equally blessed in recent years after signing centre-back Van Dijk.
The 33-year-old is closing in on 300 appearances for the club having lifted a total of eight trophies with the club, including one Premier League title and one Champions League crown.
Known for his incredible strength, pace and technique, the Dutchman is often cited among the best defenders in Premier League history.
And in a video from Ferdinand’s YouTube channel two years ago that has gone viral again, his true thoughts on Van Dijk were revealed.
While taking part in a lie detector test, Ferdinand was quizzed about a number of topics.
And one of the things that presenter Joel Beya was keen to find out was how the retired 45-year-old rated himself compared to one of the league’s current stars.
“Virgil van Dijk, do you look at him and think, he’s better than me?” he asked Ferdinand.
But the United legend – who made a staggering 504 total appearance in the Premier League – replied without hesitation.
“No,” he said confidently, shaking his head emphatically at the question.
But according to the lie detector, Ferdinand was not being quite so honest as he may have wanted people to believe.
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After a tense pause, the man in charge of the machine issued his verdict: a thumbs down sign.
The buzz of the machine then suddenly blared out – indicating that Ferdinand was not being truthful about his answer and that he did in fact think the Liverpool star was better than him after all.
“No way!” cried Ferdinand, smiling in disbelief as he expressed apparent surprise at the lie detector’s result.
“I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!” exclaimed Beya, as he could not help laughing at the shock on Ferdinand’s face.
Ferdinand however would not be swayed by the lie detector’s verdict, insisting that not only did he rate himself above Van Dijk – but that he did not see any defender in the modern game as up to his standard.
“The other day, my son was watching a video on YouTube of me,” he explained. “It was 15 minutes long.
“I sat down and watched about nine minutes and I was thinking, ‘No one does that. No one plays like that no more.’
“There isn’t any centre-back that I’ve seen in recent years that plays like that.”
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