Marco Verratti has played with and against some of the best defenders in the world right now. The Italian midfielder would know a thing or two about who the best are, so who does he think?
It's fair to say in world football right now we aren't blessed with the greatest era of defenders that we've known, even if there are some good ones.
In previous eras we've had the likes of Maldini, Costacurta, Cannavaro and Nesta. That was just a small collection of those from Serie A, never mind the rest of the world.
They don't make them like they used to. Image: PA Images
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In England we've replaced peak Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and the like with Gary Cahill, Ryan Shawcross, Phil Jagielka and the like- it's not quite the same.
But Marco Verratti is a man who plays with some of the best defenders in the world right now, either with the international team in Italy or his club team PSG.
Verratti has revealed it's not his international teammates who come out on top but his club captain and one opposition player. Speaking to Goal the Italian said:
"The captain! [Thiago Silva] O Monstro! He's impressive.
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"He's one of the two best in the world with Sergio Ramos. You could add Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo but they need each other, while Thiago Silva is strong with anyone.
"He's a captain who talks a lot in the dressing room.
"Marquinhos takes advantage of having Thiago Silva beside him. He's lucky to be developing with a player like that. Now he has to become one of the best."
Image: PA Images
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Do you agree with Verratti?
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