After a summer of speculation, Ferguson finally got his man for a massive £30million, which remains a world-record fee for a defender.



Rio’s first season at Old Trafford was a mixed bag, with injury and loss of form affecting his performances on the pitch. He found his feet towards the end of the campaign, however, as United came back from the dead to overtake Arsenal and win the fifteenth League title in their history.



In September 2003, just as Rio was filling the role of defensive leader that Sir Alex had earmarked him for, disaster struck. The defender missed a routine drugs test and, despite appealing, was banned from football for 8 months in January 2004.


Rio limped out of his final pre-ban appearance for United against Wolves with the Reds ahead of Arsenal at the top of the Premiership. Without their defensive lynchpin Sir Alex’s men wilted under pressure and ended up finishing the season third.

Since returning from his suspension, Rio has shown how critical he is to the United defence as under his leadership they shipped only 26 goals in 38 league games in the 2004/05 season.

Ferdinand has been tipped as Roy Keane’s eventual successor as captain at United, and with his calm influence and superb organisational skills it’s not hard to see why.

Rio was first selected for England in a Wembley friendly just eight days after his 19th birthday.

Commanding performances for England in the World Cup three years ago cemented his status as one of the world’s best defenders and led to a massive £29.1 million transfer from Leeds to Manchester United.

Sven has always been one of Rio’s biggest admirers, while Harry Redknapp has described him as a “Rolls Royce” of a defender.