Gary Neville responds to Jamie Carragher's top midfielder list with 'bias' dig and new No 1

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Gary Neville responded to Jamie Carragher's list of greatest central midfielders by naming Roy Keane as his No 1 - whilst dropping Steven Gerrard in at fourth.

The Manchester United great claimed he "wasn't as biased" as his Sky Sports colleague, who did name his long-time Liverpool team-mate as his top pick. That said, Neville did the same as he named a team-mate in Keane with Paul Scholes also inside the top three.

Neville admitted that he wanted to "think more traditionally" about the position and therefore discarded the likes of David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, who was third in Carragher's list, because they played more as No 10s, rather than box-to-box players.

The pundit refused to entertain that anyone but his former captain could be ranked as the Premier League's greatest midfielder, naming him ahead of Arsenal great Patrick Vieira.

The duo were the heartbeats for their team during the late 1990s and early 2000s as United and Arsenal battled for numerous titles and cups. But Neville went with Keane, stating on his podcast: "I don't think there's ever been a more influential football player in the Premier League . Full stop. In fact, I'm absolutely convinced there's not.

"I've never seen anybody drive a team forward with the standards that he had. An incredible attacking player, similar traits to Vieira but I think a level up when it comes to goalscoring." Neville also added: "I think if Jamie Carragher is selecting the No 1 central midfield player in Premier League history you can't choose anybody else but Roy Keane really and I don't think many would."

After naming Vieira as his runner-up he went with Scholes in third, describing him as the "best player that I ever played with at Manchester United." He dropped him down the list simply because his versatility meant he played off the striker, only dropping into a central midfield role for periods of his career.

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Gerrard, the man that Carragher named on top of his list, was Neville's fourth pick. Again he acknowledged his versatility as part of the reason he wasn't higher up. The former United man said: "He's a monumental player but played in different positions."

Rodri rounded out his top five with his achievements at Manchester City impossible to ignore. The Spaniard has won four league titles and scored the goal in the Champions League final that helped his side win the treble. Neville admits he wasn't sold at first, but has seen him morph into a world class player.

He said: "When he first came to the Premier League, I wasn't actually that convinced in that first season then all of a sudden he turned into a very special midfield player at the heart of a treble-winning team. He's been in the Premier League for roughly five years and if he had been in here for 10-12 years then he'd be challenging for the players that I'm going to name in one, two and three."

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