John Terry's instant response to being told Virgil van Dijk is better than him

Former Chelsea and England centre-back John Terry has issued a brutal response to claims that Virgil van Dijk is the greatest Premier League defender of all time.

Terry, who won 15 major trophies with Chelsea, including five Premier League titles and the UEFA Champions League, is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders to have graced the Premier League.

However, several players, such as former Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand and current Liverpool captain Van Dijk, may debate whether the Chelsea legend is the best.

On Tuesday (17 February), the topic was debated on talkSPORT’s Sports Bar, with Jamie O’Hara and Jermaine Pennant offering their thoughts.

O’Hara explained how he believes Van Dijk is the greatest before admitting that he had forgotten to mention Terry, as well as Nemanja Vidic and Vincent Kompany.

“I think he is, out of all the players you've named. Look at the age of Van Dijk now – he's 34,” former Liverpool winger Pennant waded in.

“At 34, Rio was at Queen’s Park Rangers, while Van Dijk is at Liverpool playing competitive football, playing Champions League and still scoring.

“He's scored more goals than all the defenders you've named, so how can you disrespect Virgil like that? If you said which one am I having… I'm picking Van Dijk.

“Do you know how many Premier League games John Terry played at 34? He was in the under-21s.

“Terry is a legend, but if you're saying as a defender one-v-one, who would I want to run up against? I'd say John Terry every day of the week. I mean, since when did he come second in the Ballon d’Or?”

O’Hara was quick to disagree and slammed Pennant’s claims before Terry hit back via a video posted to TikTok.

📊 "You have to get your stats right..."

John Terry responds to Jermaine Pennant saying #LFC's Van Dijk is better than he was at #CFC! 👀

🎥 Via JohnTerry26 on TikTok pic.twitter.com/zyN8vL79Ii

— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) February 18, 2026

Terry claimed that he had been sent the talkSPORT clip “by a hundred various people” before choosing to respond.

After admitting that everyone is “entitled to their own opinion”, Terry said: “There’s only one person who has got the most goals as a defender in Premier League history and that's me.

“I also have the most clean sheets in history and, if you're comparing myself and Virgil, then I have more trophies than him as well.

“Also, you brought up a really good point. At the age of 34, in the 2014/15 season, I played every single minute of every game for Chelsea, winning the league that season with Mourinho as our manager.

“So guys, this is over to you. I love the debate, I love being amongst it. I'm really proud of what I've done in the Premier League, but it's clearly over to you guys to settle the debate… I'm just happy to be amongst it.”

Van Dijk has won eight major honours with Liverpool, seven less than Terry's Chelsea total.