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Sol Campbell does not believe that Virgil van Dijk is currently inside the Premier League's best three center-backs.
The Arsenal legend was asked to name his top three, and unsurprisingly plumped for the Gunners' impressive pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel as the the top two.
Rounding off his choices, Campbell selected Micky van de Ven of Tottenham. Van de Ven has impressed for Spurs since moving to the club in 2023, but injuries have meant he has appeared in just 47 of a possible 83 Premier League games for the club.
“I would say, number one and number two, Saliba is in there, I think Gabriel is two, and number three is Van de Ven," Campbell told GIVEMESPORT.
Taking part in a viral trend, Campbell was also asked to keep quiet until he heard the name of a better defender than himself.
He kept quiet for Liverpool captain Van Dijk, as well as a number of other legendary players including Sergio Ramos, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Fabio Cannavaro, before eventually conceding that Paolo Maldini was a better defender than him.
Earlier this year, Campbell was asked to compare his attributes to Van Dijk's in a quick-fire interview on talkSPORT.
Campbell gave himself the edge for pace, strength, tackling, aura and heading, while he gave Van Dijk the nod for passing and leadership.
Appearing on the Stick to Football podcast in March, Campbell said that he believes the center-backs that played in his era had to deal with much tougher opponents than the defenders of today.
“I think when you look at it, you’ve got Virgil van Dijk and those guys in there," he said. "When you look at the players I played against as centre-forwards, you’ve got Thierry, you’ve got Dennis, you’ve got big Dunc – he gave you a big tough problem in the air and physically.
"Then you’ve got Emile Heskey, Dwight [Yorke], [Alan] Shearer, [Andy] Coley, all these guys, Dion Dublin, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, [Wayne] Rooney. All these guys are coming with a different kind of, you had to change your game.
"You had to be it all. You can’t just be ‘oh I wanna be this’. You had to kind of compete. I don’t think those kinds of players are around now in abundance centre-forward wise… I think so, yeah [that it’s easier to be a centre-back now than back then].
“Don’t get me wrong, there’s quality forwards but that kind of era, Ian Wright. You know, I had to deal with him! Trying to have him chatting in my ear all the time. Les Ferdinand… Mark Hughes, I had to play against him.”
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