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Rio Ferdinand is the man of the moment. With Manchester United he has won just about every honour the game has to offer and has matured into arguably the best defender in the modern game. And by the time you read this, there's every chance Fabio Capello may well have decided that he should be the new England skipper as well...

Hi Rio, how has your summer been?
It was very enjoyable. I went away with my family, has a nice quiet relaxing time, and then I went away with a couple of mates, had a good time there and then got back to football.


Do players get as bored as fans do during the summer?
Yeah! The papers aren't worth reading because there's no football and it's boring! after a couple of weeks of holidaying you start thinking of the date when you're going to be in because you're chomping at the bit.

Did you watch any of Euro 2008? What did you think?
Yeah I saw bits of it. I saw a few games. It was good football to be honest, enjoyable to watch. Obviously not being there was disappointing but it was quite open and expansive football, which is good.


Who do you think will be Manchester United's main challenges this season?
II think you can really look past the normal people who are about, the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. Those three are definitely going to be involved in one way shape or form so as you say you can't really look too far past them. There's usually one team that comes out of the woodwork, last year it was Everton. Who know's? It might be them again or it might be someone else!

What games do you first look out for when the new fixtures are released?
West Ham and Liverpool normally. They're the two I look for straight away.

Will you be having another competition with your brother (Anton, defender at West Ham) over who scores more goals again this season?
If Sky do then we probably will do yeah.

Are you confident?
I'm always confident!

How has it been working under Fabio Capello for England?
It's been good. He's come in with new ideas and the lads have enjoyed it. It's always good to see what other new ideas there are and up to now it's been very good.

Which was your favourite wind-up in your World Cup hidden camera show?
Probably the one with Wayne (Rooney). With the dog and stuff. Coleen was obviously in on it and she knew what was going on, and watching it back and seeing her laugh was very funny!


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Click here to read interviews with Mark Chapman and Kasabian

Click here to read interviews with Ricky Tomlinson and Les Ferdinand

Click here to read interviews with Dave Spikey and Ian Holloway