Rumours abound at the moment about the future of Rio Ferdinand. Although Big Sam has ruled out any move for Rio in the January transfer window, I think he should think seriously whether Rio is right for us.
Rio missed most of last season through injury. It is clear he is a shadow of his former self and has now lost his England place.
Is today’s Rio really the type of player we should be looking to sign. An ageing player, plagued by injury, in the twilight of his career. I think not.
I can remember the first time I saw Rio play. It was for our youth team. The match was against Spurs played at Chadwell Heath. We needed to beat them to win the league. From memory I think we won 3-1 but can’t be sure. I came away from the match and told friends and colleagues that I had just watched the next Bobby Moore, a future captain of England.
Rio’s performance that day was so composed; he looked like a man against boys. Rio went on to become one of the best centre backs of his generation in the world. That was then and this is now.
My personal view is that I do not believe Rio is the right choice for us now. We should be looking to the future and investing in players with more longevity such as James Tomkins. Sam should identify someone, possibly from a Championship side, ready to step up to the next level.
We have the experienced James Collins backed up by Winston Reid and James Tomkins. Our next step should be to bring in an ambitious up and coming centre back and start blooding him gradually for the future.