Chelsea ace claims Man Utd defender is right to lead England

Ferdinand replaced Lampard’s Chelsea team-mate John Terry of the captaincy due to recent revelations about the Blues skipper’s personal life.

Lampard said: “John and Rio are both big personalities. The England captain has to be someone vocal in the squad and (Ferdinand) has always been a popular fella in the dressing room and he is easy to get on with.

“The controversy of the changeover and everything is unfortunate but now it has changed Rio deserves it and will give it a great crack.

“Wayne (Rooney) is our best player, especially at the moment, and he is the one that can really make things happen for us off the cuff. To burden him at that age (24) would have been the manager’s decision, but I think it is a good idea not to.

“I think he will be England captain one day for sure. This has brought up a whole talk about England captaincy but you need a few captains on the pitch.”