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Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has said that former Tottenham Hotspur star Tom Huddleston impressed him every time they trained together for England.
The 36-year-old defensive midfielder has managed only four caps for England but seems to have left a mark on Ferdinand with his quality. The pair have shared the pitch just once for the national side, a 2-1 international friendly win against Japan back in 2010.
Speaking about Huddlestone's game, Ferdinand said on the Vibe With Five podcast (via Metro):
"I don’t think I trained with Tom Huddlestone many times but every time I trained with him, he left something in that session that afterwards, you’d go to one of the lads, ‘Did you see that from Tom?"
He added:
"He played with both feet, bearing in mind he was massive. He used to have this skill where he would roll it with his right or left foot, rolls it with one and in the same motion, slap pass it with the opposite, mate, hard to do, he’s doing it in training full speed, nonchalantly, or smashing a ball off either foot top corner, curling it, anywhere you like it."
Huddlestone, who currently plays for Manchester United, managed 209 appearances for Spurs, bagging 16 goals and 31 assists across all competitions. He joined the north London outfit from Derby County in 2005 before departing the side in 2013 for Hull City.
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand claims he wanted Jermaine Defoe at Old Trafford
Rio Ferdinand recently said that he urged Sir Alex Ferguson to sign Jermaine Defoe for the Red Devils. Former England teammates Ferdinand and Defoe played together on 19 occasions for the national team, without managing a joint goal contribution.
Now retired, Defoe was a lethal striker in the Premier League. He managed to score 163 goals from a stunning 496 appearances in the English top-flight.
On the former Tottenham Hotspur star, Ferdinand said on the Vibe with Five podcast (via Metro):
"The one player I always used to say to him [Ferguson] if you want to buy someone from our England team… Defoe. He’s got that inner, ‘I need goals, I live, smell and breathe goals’. We (Manchester United) would’ve got him in so many positions to score, it would’ve been a joke."
During his career, Defoe represented multiple clubs that played in the Premier League, including Bournemouth, Sunderland, West Ham United, and Spurs, among others.
