Rio Ferdinand
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While Nemanja Vidic was the tough, no-nonsense member of their defensive partnership, Rio Ferdinand was the type of classy ball-playing centre-back which has become so popular in the game nowadays.
Eyebrows were raised when Manchester United made Ferdinand the most expensive defender of all time by splashing £30m to bring him to Old Trafford from Leeds United in 2002, but it proved to be money well spent over the England international's 12-year stay at the club.
Ferdinand made 455 appearances across all competitions during that time, including 312 in the Premier League, before he left on a free transfer to Queens Park Rangers upon the expiration of his contract in 2014.
By that point the former West Ham United man had won six Premier League titles, three League Cups and the 2008 Champions League title, in addition to reaching two more Champions League finals in 2009 and 2011.
A drugs ban early in his United career had threatened to derail his time at Old Trafford before it had really begun, but Ferdinand overcame that to leave a lasting impression on the club as arguably their greatest centre-back of the Premier League era.
