Teammates of both at club and international level, Rio Ferdinand has explained why he would select Frank Lampard over Paul Scholes if picking a team.
A product of the same West Ham United academy as Lampard, Ferdinand played alongside the Chelsea legend while on international duty with England also.
In Paul Scholes, Ferdinand had another former international teammate who he went on to achieve all there is to win in club football with Manchester United.
As he set about deciding between Lampard, Scholes and Liverpool's Steven Gerrard on his Rio Ferdinand Presents Five YouTube channel, it was the recently sacked Chelsea boss Lampard who came out on top.
"If I'm a manager, I take Frank because he's going to get me 20 (goals) a year," he reasoned. "As a manager I want them to define matches, he's going to get me 20 and probably double-figures in assists."
Nevertheless, keeping all sides happy, Ferdinand did concede that Paul Scholes had been his favourite player to share a football pitch with.
"Scholesy was a joke to play with man," he said. "I played with him when he played just in front of me and he just conducted the game.
"When I first went to United when he played off Ruud van Nistelrooy and he was unplayable, I think he scored 20 odd goals that season. An unbelievable talent, all round.
"Scholesy is hard to keep out, he's probably my favourite player I played with. I used to thank him for letting me be on the same pitch as him - he used to think I was mad, for sure.
Related Reads:
'Stephen Kenny couldn't complain if he was sacked now' | Mark Lawrenson
van Nistelrooy addressed Ronaldo rumours and his United exit
van Nistelrooy recalls how Roy Keane became an "animal" on the pitch
In the end though, pragmatism won out for Rio Ferdinand as he picked his hypothetical team.
"He didn't score as much as Frank, Frank's the most potent out of all of them in terms of goals - none of them can get near Frank. Goals and assists, Frank dwarfs everybody and he was cold as ice in the box."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
