Rio Ferdinand--Five Star--The Biography
Wensley Clarkson'The fascinating story of one of football's most controversial stars' – Daily Mail
Rio Ferdinand established himself as one of the world's top; defenders. He burst on to the pitch at the young age of seventeen, when he made his first-team debut for West Ham, playing alongside other budding talents Frank Lampard and Joe Cole. During his time with the Hammers, the young Ferdinand was honoured to be compared to 1966 World Cup hero Sir Booby Moore, and it wasn't long before he himself was picked to represent England.
His performances on the world stage transformed Ferdinand from an emerging force to a fully accomplished international football star. As his reputation soared, so too did his value on the transfer market, and in the summer of 2002 Manchester United signed him for a world-record fee for a defensive player.
The path to footballing glory hasn't always been smooth: when he was a young boy his schoolmate Stephen Lawrence was murdered, while in later...