Manchester United fans knew that the Rio Ferdinand-Nemanja Vidic defensive partnership was one of the best in their club's history, if not the best, but as much as the players were appreciated at the time, their reputation has only grown in the years since they left Old Trafford.
Chris Smalling and Phil Jones were supposed to be their replacements, with Sir Alex Ferguson claiming the latter could one day become the club's greatest ever player. Sir Bobby Charlton even likened him to Duncan Edwards, one of United's great defenders who was killed, at the age of 21, in the Munich air disaster of 1958.