Rio given a chance to shine as Terry gets cold shoulder

When Manchester United signed Rio Ferdinand for a record fee for a defender of £30million in July 2002, Sir Alex Ferguson had earmarked him as the heir apparent to Roy Keane.

The Scot saw leadership qualities in the Peckham-born Leeds player that marked him out as the next captain at Old Trafford when the Irish midfielder eventually hung up his boots.

Six years later and the pecking order for the armband at Old Trafford is very different. Ferdinand is behind Gary Neville - when fit - Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. The defender did take over the captaincy when Giggs was substituted against Liverpool on Sunday but it was purely a temporary measure.

Many at the club now see Wayne Rooney as the next candidate to lead the team once the three players from the class of '92 have retired. Ferguson still rates Ferdinand the defender but has been turned off Ferdinand the captain by a string of lurid headlines, making Fabio Capello's choice of the player as his skipper for the friendly with France tomorrow night all the more surprising.

Ferdinand was banned from football for eight months for missing a drugs test, has been banned from driving four times and it was claimed - later denied by the player - he organised last year's infamous United Christmas party. There is, of course, another side to Ferdinand and, like many Premier League stars, he supports charities and does his share of hospital visits.

From a playing point of view he was once considered one of the finest footballing centre-backs in the world. But while he did not allow Fernando Torres a sniff of goal against Liverpool, he looked like a novice in the defeat by Manchester City last month.