Paul Ince enjoyed a superb career at the top of the game, starring for the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Inter Milan, as well as England.
Ince, nicknamed ‘the Guv’nor’, was one of the hardest footballers around during an era of the game when tough-tackling, physical players were the norm.
Ince faced the likes of Manchester United legend Roy Keane, Arsenal powerhouse Patrick Vieira and Everton titan Duncan Ferguson over the course of his near 20-year career.
However, one opponent stood out in particular for Ince, as he admitted a game against said player left him feeling like he’d been up against a “juggernaut”.
READ MORE: Troy Deeney names the ‘world-class’ Liverpool icon he feels was much better than Mohamed Salah
Paul Ince names Chelsea icon Marcel Desailly as his toughest opponent
Ince named Chelsea cult hero Marcel Desailly as his most fearsome opponent, though the encounter came when the two were playing in Italy’s Serie A.
The Three Lions icon, playing for Inter at the time, came up against Desailly when the Frenchman was plying his trade for bitter city rivals AC Milan.
Ince landed the first blow during Inter’s showdown with Milan. but he admitted Desailly’s response left him stunned.
When asked on talkSPORT who the hardest opponent he’s faced, Ince responded: “I’ve had a few. Keane, Steven Gerrard, Vieira but I’d probably say Desailly. He was tough.
“When he was at AC Milan. Before the Milan derby we had to do a big photoshoot, me and Desailly with our mouths open roaring for a big billboard in Milan.
“We had to go to this warehouse but he refused to go because he was at AC and I was at Inter. I don’t know whether he didn’t like me or something but we didn’t go.
“Quarter to eight kick-off, first tackle – I absolutely melted him. Melted him. I put him on his a— and shout, ‘get up, get up!’ He then looked at me.
“About ten minutes later he just cracked me. I thought, ‘wow’. I thought I’d been hit by a juggernaut.
“It was the toughest game I’ve had. We were always going into each other, head-to-head. It was tough, tough man.”
Ince left Inter in 1997 to join Liverpool, while Desailly joined Chelsea in 1998 shortly after helping France win their first ever World Cup.
The hardest Premier League players of all time
Back in 2021, BBC Sport pundits Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards ranked their top 10 Premier League hard men on the Match of the Day Top 10 podcast.
Chelsea cult hero Diego Costa took 10th place, with West Ham icon Julian Dicks in ninth. David Batty took eighth, while Nottingham Forest legend Stuart Pearce was in seventh.
Next up was Arsenal icon Patrick Vieira, followed by Manchester United powerhouse Jaap Stam in fifth.
Wimbledon titan Vinnie Jones came in fourth, followed by Red Devils legends Roy Keane and Nemanja Vidic.
| Player | Rank |
| Duncan Ferguson | 1 |
| Nemanja Vidic | 2 |
| Roy Keane | 3 |
| Vinnie Jones | 4 |
| Jaap Stam | 5 |
| Patrick Vieira | 6 |
| Stuart Pearce | 7 |
| David Batty | 8 |
| Julian Dicks | 9 |
| Diego Costa | 10 |
Everton giant Duncan Ferguson came top of the list, with both Shearer and Richards deeming him the hardest player of the Premier League era.
