Man Utd legend Vidic voted best Premier League defender ever ahead of former team-mate Ferdinand and Liverpool’s Van Dijk – The Sun

NEMANJA VIDIC was voted the Premier League's greatest ever defender – pipping the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Virgil van Dijk to the crown.

The Manchester United legend earned 55 per cent of the vote against Liverpool's Van Dijk in the final.

In the poll posted by Sky Sports News on Twitter, they pitted eight of the best defenders to feature in the Prem against each other in four quarter-finals.

Vincent Kompany – who had his testimonial at Manchester City this week – beat Jaap Stam with 52 per cent in the first vote before Van Dijk narrowly saw off Tony Adams with 51 per cent.

The third clash saw the heavyweight clash of Vidic up against John Terry – the percentage score was 50-50 but the Serb just shaved the 26,061 votes.

And finally Ferdinand crushed Sol Campbell with 77 per cent in the final quarter-final.

It means there was no place in the poll for the likes of Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville or Ashley Cole.

Van Dijk edged out four-time Prem winner Vincent Kompany in one semi-final before Vidic went up against former Manchester United team-mate Ferdinand, receiving 57 per cent of the vote and then taking the final.

Vidic, 37, won the Premier League five times during his ten-year spell at Old Trafford and was named the Premier League Player of the Season in 2008/09 and 2010/11 – in the same years he was included in the Fifa FIFPro World XI.

He made a total of 211 top-flight appearances in England, keeping 95 clean sheets, before ending his career at Inter Milan.

In contrast, Van Dijk, 28, was a surprise inclusion in the final.

Although he has been one of the best players in the world since joining the Reds in January 2018 and won the PFA Player of the Year and Uefa's Player of the Year accolades this year, he has made just 123 Prem appearances – more than half of those for Southampton – and kept 46 clean sheets.

The Liverpool before Van Dijk and after are a completely different set up. I'll give him that one.

He was part of Jurgen Klopp's side that finished second with 97 points last season but is yet to win a domestic trophy in England.

But while plenty would argue against Van Dijk being the greatest Prem defender of all time, Kompany reckons the Dutch international is.

Speaking ahead of his testimonial match, the Anderlecht player-manager was asked where he ranks himself among the all-time best centre-backs in the Prem.

Kompany said: "I never to try to compare. My journey is different, I've had to deal with different tools.

"I would bring it back to Virgil van Dijk, he's not been on the scene as long as Terry and Ferdinand who have been around for a long time but the signs he's shown in the last years.

"He's shown if he had been around longer he'd have been at the top for a long time.

"The Liverpool before Van Dijk and after are a completely different set up. I'll give him that one."

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