Rio Ferdinand has urged the likes of Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice to snub Liverpool in favour of a move to Manchester United.
Less than 12 months ago, Jurgen Klopp’s side were head and shoulders above their old rivals, thrashing them 4-0 last April. At the time, United interim boss Ralf Rangnick said it could take the Red Devils six years before they caught up with Liverpool.
However, under Erik ten Hag, United have enjoyed a rapid recovery, topped off with winning the Carabao Cup at Wembley last weekend. And that resurgence has coincided with Liverpool’s standards slipping and their team no longer looking as resilient as it once did.
The two Premier League giants go head-to-head at Anfield this weekend, with United 10 points ahead of their hosts. Regardless of how this season ends, the two sides are sure to reinforce in the summer window, with many players linked to both.
That includes England duo Bellingham and Rice, who look set to be at the centre of their own respective transfer sagas at the end of the season. Bellingham has been heavily touted with a move to Merseyside, while Rice has been linked with the likes of United and league leaders Arsenal.
But Ferdinand has told the midfield pair that United’s upward trajectory makes them a more attractive proposition. "If you put the two teams on a graph, Manchester United are going in one direction and Liverpool have stagnated," the ex-Red Devils defender told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"I wouldn't say Liverpool are in decline, but other teams are catching them up and maybe going beyond them. If I'm a player, say Jude Bellingham or Declan Rice - two of the most in-demand English midfielders that may get moves this summer - and someone says, 'Manchester United or Liverpool, where are you going?', forget my Manchester United ties, I have to go with United right now.”
Ferdinand, who won six Premier League titles during his United career, thinks his old team now look better, have a deeper playing squad, a manager on the up and a higher chance of winning silverware regularly.
He added: "The way the team looks, the way the squad is shaping up, the way the managers are navigating their teams' fortunes and who I see being more successful in the upcoming future - I really would be sitting on the side of United."
Whoever signs Bellingham this summer is sure to pay a heavy premium for a player quickly emerging as the best in the world in his position. Borussia Dortmund have a track record of playing hardball in negotiations and sporting director Sevastien Kehl is determined to keep him at Signal Iduna Park beyond the end of this season.
“Jude feels very comfortable at Borussia Dortmund, but we haven’t had conversations yet and haven’t received offers for him,” Kehl told BILD last month.
“He still has two more years of contract and is a very important piece of this team. That’s why I naturally wish that he would play for BVB longer.”
As for Rice, West Ham boss David Moyes is adamant that should his captain leave the London Stadium, it would be for a fee higher than the £106million Chelsea paid for Enzo Fernandez in January.
“I don’t know if I need to say the words, I think you can say the words if you watched it the way I saw it,” Moyes explained in February. “Undoubtedly Declan is going to be a top player. And undoubtedly he’ll be a British transfer record and more whenever he leaves West Ham.”
