One of, if not the greatest central defensive partnership the Premier League has ever seen,  returns this season when a fully fit Nemanja Vidic, partners Rio Ferdinand.

An underappreciated factor in Manchester United’s failure to retain the Premier League title last term was Vidic’s absence due to a knee ligament injury for over half the campaign.

Speaking to The Sun, the Serbian is confident he and Ferdinand can once again shut out the Premier League’s best marksmen; “I have no doubt Rio and me can again be the best couple of defenders in the Premier League.”

The 30 year old’s vote of confidence for Ferdinand, comes after one of the toughest season’s of the Englishman’s career. Still the most expensive defender in English football history, last year many wrote off Ferdinand, who struggled initially to adapt to a loss of pace and new found vulnerability.

The Manchester United stalwart was also controversially frozen out of the England squad this summer.

But Ferdinand can take solace in Vidic’s comments that his knee is in “perfect condition”.

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