Rio Ferdinand certainly raised a few eyebrows when he announced his plans in the sport of boxing this year, but his passions and interests remain with the beautiful game.

Having hung up his boots in 2015, Ferdinand has continued to work for the likes of BT Sport as a pundit with game analysis and brilliant throwbacks to his own career.

Furthermore, working alongside the likes of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, he has no shortage of interesting stories and insights into his time with Manchester United, England and others.

From 19 years at the top level, though, Ferdinand has admitted that nothing beats the United team and success of 2008.

In an interview with Ball Street, the 39-year-old reflected: "That time there - Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney; Scholes and Carrick in midfield, Hargreaves and Giggsy; me and Vida, Patrice; Edwin van der Sar.

"That team there, I'd put us against anyone. That team had a group of players there that had five or six people that could easily have an argument to be captain."

Not a bad team, huh? It's no wonder United procured the Champions League title that season in the midst of a hat-trick of Premier League title wins.

Nevertheless, Ferdinand had to admit that one player in that star-studded squad would frustrate him at times. 

"I think the most frustrating thing is when you know you've got players in your team with undoubted ability - great ability, got everything - but don't consistently get that out onto the pitch," he explained.

"So, Nani was a great player. I remember he started one of the seasons like a house on fire and he definitely would have won player of the year if he continued that vein of form.

"He just go sidetracked, I don't know, he just didn't do it all the time. He could shoot better than anybody, left and right, and so hard with both feet but he wasn't consistent with it.

"One would go over here, one would go there. You'd say: 'hit the target man, you don't have to hit it so hard,' but it's about getting all of that in one place at the same time."

Exactly right, Rio. There can be little doubting Nani's talent but there's a feeling that the Portuguese could have achieved so much more at Old Trafford.

For a man who, statistically speaking, enjoyed a better start to life at United than Cristiano Ronaldo, it's fair to say he fell short of aspirations. 

Do you think Nani would make the current Manchester United team? Have your say in the comments section below.