John Terry has hit back at Rio Ferdinand 's claim that the former Chelsea man is only the fifth-best centre-back in Premier League history with a "stats don't lie" post.
The 41-year-old is regarded as one of the greatest defenders in the top-flight era, having consistently performed at the highest level for almost two decades. He ended up winning five Premier League titles and countless other trophies, including the Champions League in 2012.
Terry finished his career on 492 top-flight appearances and is known by many as Chelsea's most successful captain in the club's history. He was also capped 78 times by England before retiring from international football in 2012 to concentrate on his club career.
However, Ferdinand put three Manchester United centre-backs ahead of Terry including himself. The ex-Leeds United man was debating the top-five central defenders in Premier League history with Liverpool's Virgil van Djik ahead of the Champions League final on Saturday.
Ferdinand put himself in top spot, with Nemanja Vidic in second, Van Djik third, Jaap Stam fourth and Terry at the bottom of the pile. Meanwhile, the Dutch international took himself out of the equation and also put Ferdinand top, followed by Vincent Kompany, Stam, Terry and Sami Hyypia.
It is a debate which has caused some discussion on social media and Terry has disagreed with Ferdinand's thoughts when analysing the stats behind all Premier League defenders. In an Instagram story, Terry put up a series of images and graphs containing a variety of stats to back him up.
Who was the better Premier League defender between Rio Ferdinand and John Terry? Let us know in the comments below!
There was one which included the captains with most Premier League titles and another that explained the centre-backs with the highest winning percentage in Premier League history. Terry also added a picture which had the top ten players who have had the most nominations for the FIFPRO World XI.
All three were topped by Terry out of centre-backs and he captioned the post "opinions are great but the stats don't lie". Another graph had Terry on the list of the highest-scoring defenders of all-time.
Ferdinand did, however, heap praise on Terry when explaining his decisions to Van Djik. He claimed he was a "much better footballer" than people say he was after his spells with Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.
He said: "In terms of his longevity at that club, what they won, body on the line, a much better footballer than people give him credit for, could play off his left and right foot."
