Rio Ferdinand has named the five world-class players Manchester City have on their books.
Considering there is constant discourse around the embarrassment of riches Pep Guardiola has at his disposal, it may have surprised many that the popular pundit does not reckon the club has more world-class players.
Recently, Rio Ferdinand claimed that due to City’s squad depth, they would only struggle to win as much silverware as they have in recent years in the absences of Rodri and Erling Haaland.
Rio Ferdinand says Manchester City only have five world-class players
The Manchester United legend also clarified that in his view, Phil Foden cannot be classed as a world-class player yet.
Across Europe’s top five leagues, Ferdinand believes there are only 12 players worthy of such status.
Out of them, Rio Ferdinand believes Manchester City have five world-class players.
“I think it’s easier when you put a list together. I was talking to Owen Hargreaves about it the other day. When you put a list down, it becomes easier for me”, he said on TNT Sports.
“There you see the guys there. Ederson, Alisson, Kyle Walker, Virgil van Dijk, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne and the list goes, you can see it there yourself.”
Erling Haaland was the last of the five Manchester City players Rio Ferdinand considers world-class.
Other names in this list included Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, the Real Madrid duo of Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham as well as Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane.
Manchester City have more than five world-class players
While not many would disagree with Ederson, Kyle Walker, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland being world-class, in our view, Rio Ferdinand missed out on other Manchester City players deserving of such status.
For starters, one wonders why the pundit did not name Bernardo Silva; a player who has been one of Europe’s best for years, having won every possible trophy at club level and performed at elite levels in both midfield as well out wide.
Similarly, the likes of John Stones and Ruben Dias are arguably two of the best centre-backs in the world, especially since the latter joined City in 2020 and formed an unbreakable partnership with the former.
If Bernardo Silva, Stones and Dias are not world-class, then who is?
