Former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand still believes that Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk is the best centre-half in world football.

Earlier in the season, some were arguing whether Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger should be in the discussion but Ferdinand claims that, despite the Dutchman having recently returned from a serious knee injury, he would pick van Dijk over any other player:

“I think you’ve got to think you’re the guy, you’ve got to think you’re the best and I think Virgil, he’s the best centre-back in the world. But I still believe if there’s a game right now today and I need a centre-back, my first centre-back on the list would be him.”

Van Dijk has not been at 100% so far this season, that much is clear. However, even in the 3-2 defeat to West Ham on Sunday, the 30-year-old was excellent, especially in one-on-one duels with his opponents.

Whether he’ll ever get back to the level where he dominated every forward he came up against, we shall have to wait and see, but there is still no other centre-back in the world who possesses the same traits as van Dijk. Ferdinand’s opinion on the matter should hold some weight too, considering how good a defender he was in his own right.