Rio Ferdinand accused of 'lying' to Anthony Elanga as fans call out Man Utd legend after Liverpool draw

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has been accused of lying in an interview with Nottingham Forest's Anthony Elanga.

Ferdinand interviewed the winger ahead of Forest's draw with Premier League leaders Liverpool at the City Ground on Tuesday night.

Elanga laid on an assist for Chris Wood's opener eight minutes in, before Diogo Jota levelled matters straight after coming off the bench.

The Sweden international is enjoying an impressive season for Nuno Espirito Santo's high-flyers, with three goals and five assists in the Premier League.

But while his numbers are good, it appears as though Ferdinand exaggerated his performances for Forest.

Prior to the Liverpool game, Ferdinand and Elanga discussed his form for a TNT Sports feature and the England captain compared the 22-year-old's statistics to some of the world's best.

According to Ferdinand, since joining Forest, Elanga has more goal contributions than Vinicius Jr, Kylian Mbappe and Jamal Musiala and Rafael Leao.

However, the stats do not appear to be legitimate. Across the last two campaigns, Elanga has a total of 24 goal contributions but Mbappe had 34 all alone for Paris Saint-Germain last season alone - with a further 12 in the league this time around.

Meanwhile, Vini Jr managed 21 goals and assists last season and 15 in La Liga this term - therefore giving the Brazil international 36 for the past two seasons.

I like Elanga but come on man 🤣, there’s no need for Rio to so obviously lie like this. It’s not even close to being true 😭😭😭 https://t.co/tVADeTfB92 pic.twitter.com/oSaCDmEfpX

— - (@sulkfenomeno) January 15, 2025

Elanga looked taken aback by Ferdinand reading out the players he supposedly had better numbers then and fans on X were not having Ferdinand's claim.

One said: "I like Elanga but come on man, there’s no need for Rio to so obviously lie like this. It’s not even close to being true."

A second commented: "More g/a than Mbappe, Musiala, Vinicius, sure buddy even Elanga couldn’t believe it."

A third added: "He’s deffo reading off some fake website."

Another wrote: "He must’ve meant he’s got more than them in the Premier League that’s the only way it works.

A final user posted: "Elanga is obviously very good but the way Rio gassed it."

Forest return to action on Sunday when they host bottom club Southampton.