My dad won it all with Man Utd and is now famous pundit – now I’m making my own way at Premier League rivals

11 months ago 89

THE name Ferdinand has been etched into Premier League history.

Les was one of the best strikers in the land with 149 goals while cousin and defender Anton racked up 218 appearances for West Ham, Sunderland and QPR.

Lorenz Ferdinand is a goalkeeper in the Brighton academy[/caption]

Rio Ferdinand won six Premier Leagues and the Champions League with Manchester United[/caption]

But his brother Rio enjoyed the most success, winning six Premier League titles at the heart of Manchester United’s defence under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Ferdinand remains one of the best defenders England has produced – as demonstrated by twice holding the British transfer record and the tag as the world’s most expensive defender.

But now his son Lorenz has ambitions of becoming the fourth member of the Ferdinand family to play in the Premier League – and the first do so as a GOALKEEPER.

And he can count on his dad for plenty of wisdom.

Rio Ferdinand, 45, came through the youth academy with Frank Lampard at West Ham before joining Leeds for £18million in November 2000.

After helping the Whites reach the Champions League semi-finals and being named club captain, he was controversially sold to rivals Manchester United in 2002 for £29m.

Ferdinand was a key man at Old Trafford – bouncing back from a harsh eight-month ban for accidentally missing a drugs test – and captained the side when they lifted the Champions League against Chelsea in 2008.

The centre-back also collected the Club World Cup and two League Cups in his 455 Red Devils games before joining QPR for the final season of his career.

Internationally, he racked up 81 caps and went to the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups before missing South Africa 2010 through injury.

Ferdinand made his debut aged 19 and was captain from 2010 to 2011.

After hanging up his boots, the footballer wanted to give boxing a go but was refused a licence.

He has since gone into a successful career as a pundit for TNT Sports and the BBC alongside his own podcast and music label, while his Manchester restaurant Russo has now closed.

Ferdinand went to three World Cups with England[/caption]

The defender racked up 81 England caps alongside plenty of top talents[/caption]

The former footballer married Kate Wright and the couple have two children[/caption]

Ferdinand is now a pundit for TNT Sports[/caption]

Ferdinand is also a dad of five children.

Three of them – Lorenz, Tate and Tia – were with his first wife Rebecca Ellison who tragically died of breast cancer in 2015.

Ferdinand has since remarried former The Only Way Is Essex star Kate Wright, with the couple welcoming son Cree before daughter Shae arrived in July 2023.

But it is his oldest kid that is excelling on the football field.

Lorenz, 17, is in the Brighton & Hove Albion academy and shining for the Seagulls’ youngsters in the Under-18 Premier League and FA Youth Cup.

But step-mum Kate revealed the pain of seeing him move out of the family home to live in digs on the south coast.

She said: “He doesn’t live at home at the moment. He’s living with another family.

“I was devastated when he moved out. It’s a real big thing, I was emotional. I miss him so much. We still see him twice a week but it’s taken a lot of getting used to.”