Rio Ferdinand and John Terry went at it on Twitter overnight after the Chelsea defender took offence at being named fifth on a list of the greatest Premier League centre-backs.
Ahead of the Champions League final, Manchester United great Ferdinand discussed the topic with Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk on BT Sport. Ferdinand placed himself first with Nemanja Vidic and Jaap Stam and Van Dijk ahead of Terry.
Terry reacted by posting a list of his achievements on Instagram, including win percentages, goals scored and World XI nominations, with the caption: "Opinions are great but stats don't lie."
Ferdinand bit back on Thursday night, telling Terry he was "lucky" to even be mentioned following the racism case involving his brother Anton.
He tweeted: "The moment one has to start pushing their own records and stats it’s really time to start addressing the fragile ego. Your lucky I even put you in the top 5 after the racism case with my brother so be thankful you made it."
Terry was in 2011 handed a four-game ban and fined £220,000 by the Football Association after being found guilty of "using abusive language ... which included a reference to colour and/or race" towards Ferdinand's younger brother during a game between Chelsea and QPR. He was stripped of the England captaincy though cleared of racially abusing Ferdinand in court.
Terry soon responded, hitting back at Ferdinand's own "fragile ego".
He tweeted: "A fragile Ego is putting yourself at Number 1. @rioferdy5 Thanks for putting me in your top 5."
A fragile Ego is putting yourself at Number 1 @rioferdy5
— John Terry (@JohnTerry26) May 26, 2022
Thanks for putting me in your top 5 🏆👍🏻
The 41-year-old was not done there. He retweeted a Chelsea fan page listing his achievements and responded to a follower who had suggested he ignored Ferdinand’s remark about the racism allegations.
“Stats don’t lie ‘NOT GUILTY’, Addressed it, now what?” he replied, adding a clown emoji.
