The England national team have had a lot of top-quality players feature for the Three Lions over the past few decades.
Even though England have not won a major international tournament since the World Cup in 1966, supporters have watched a wide range of top players represent the country.
One particularly memorable period of England at international level is the media-dubbed ‘golden generation’ between 2001 and 2006.
This was when the Three Lions had names such as Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, John Terry and Steven Gerrard among others in the team.
Now that Gareth Southgate is currently leading his England side in another European Championship, one former Three Lions star has shared his thoughts on how this current crop of players compare to the ones he played with, with one Manchester City star getting a special mention.
Rio Ferdinand says Kyle Walker would get into England’s golden generation side
When asked in a recent video shared on the BBC Sport TikTok channel which of the current England squad he’d put into the golden generation side that he was involved in, Ferdinand said this on the matter.
He said: “If there was any of the current England team that would get in my generation, which was called the golden generation, I don’t know why because we didn’t win anything, the players that I think would probably get in would be [Jordan] Pickford because for England I think he’s been really, really solid.
“I’d go Kyle Walker. I think he’s been the best Premier League right-back. I’d put him down in history, he’d get in our squad, our team. I think they’re the only ones.”
Ferdinand is a big fan of Walker
At the age of 34, Walker has racked up 612 senior club appearances and 84 caps for England prior to today’s match against Denmark.
During his time at City, the right-back has won numerous domestic and European trophies, including six Premier League titles, which is the same number of league titles that Ferdinand won in his 12-year spell at Manchester United.
This isn’t the first time the former centre-back has hailed the City captain, as he said earlier this month that he thinks Walker is better than his former United teammate Gary Neville was.
Now that the pundit has picked Walker as one of the two current England players he’d put in the three Lions side from around 20 years ago, this further highlights how much Ferdinand admires the City star.