Rio Ferdinand always keeps an eye on England’s top youngsters, and in his role as a pundit on various shows and in various papers we get to hear his takes a lot.
Football.London had quotes from the former Manchester and Leeds United defender who has taken a shine to a Chelsea youngster from the same part of the pitch:
“Another one is Reece James – I like this kid. With his crossing he puts teams under pressure, he wants to hurt the opposing team and make you face your own goal,” Rio commented.
“He’s got so much growth in his game. He is versatile – he’s played centre-half for Wigan, he can play right-back, even in centre midfield,” Ferdinand went on.
Rio knows what makes a good defender, and we’re excited to see him pick out James for praise. The right back recovered from his injury to end up having the breakout season we always hoped he would, and he’s genuinely neck and neck with club captain Cesar Azpilicueta in competition for the right back spot now.
We saw plenty of him this season, and will hopefully see plenty more next campaign too. As Rio says, for all the good stuff he’s done, there’s room for so much more too. If he keeps working on his game, we could be looking at a new star player in the league.
