John Terry says Arsenal and Man Utd had two of the best players he ever played against

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John Terry is widely regarded as one of the Premier League’s all-time greatest centre-backs, but some of his opponents over the years are equally as legendary.

The Chelsea icon made his league debut in December 1998 against Southampton, going on to make a total of 492 appearances in the English top flight before calling time on his playing career in 2018.

During a two-decade stint in the Premier League, Terry faced a plethora of amazing talent, but has now singled out Wayne Rooney and Thierry Henry as the best players he ever went toe to toe with.

Wayne Rooney and Thierry Henry are the best Premier League players John Terry faced

Henry moved to Arsenal in 1999, a year on from Terry’s debut, and including his second, brief spell with the Gunners in 2012, he notched 175 Premier League goals throughout his career.

That is the eighth-most in the competition’s history and third-most from players outside of England (Sergio Aguero 184 and Mohamed Salah 193).

Rooney, meanwhile, netted 208 times in the top flight while on the books of Everton and Manchester United, which puts him third on the all-time top scorers list.

In turn, it is perhaps not surprising that, when asked to name the best player he played against in the Premier League, Terry heaped praise on both forwards.

Speaking via his official TikTok account, the former Chelsea ace said: “There’s two for me, and they’re both strikers. Henry and Rooney have to be the two for me.

“Just that year, or those few years at Arsenal, Henry was just unplayable, I think. And I think Rooney had that when he went to Man Utd as well. Two guys that I feared playing against. I enjoyed the challenge but was nervous going into those games against them, for different reasons.

“Henry had just blistering pace that could just embarrass anyone, could do absolutely everything, score with his left foot, right foot, head, run behind, link up short.

“Wayne was the same as well. For someone who was quite stocky and really strong, was really quick, really powerful. And like we’ve seen over the years, could score goals from absolutely anywhere.

“So those two guys, I spoke about when Rooney first burst on the scene at England, I’ve never seen a 17-year-old do the things Wayne was doing in those England training sessions, and playing against him was so difficult.”

Wayne Rooney’s toughest opponent

While the English duo never linked up at club level, Terry and Rooney clearly have a lot of respect for each other.

The former Man Utd striker has been similarly complimentary of the ex-Chelsea man in the past, also naming him as his toughest opponent.

Speaking alongside Carragher for The Overlap in May 2025, he said: “I’ve always said John Terry was the toughest defender I played against. On the ball he was very good – he was brilliant, and he could tackle.

“I also used to like playing against big centre-backs because I wanted a challenge and wanted that body contact – I could spin them all and come off them, then take them on. John Terry was the toughest though.”

In total, Rooney and Terry faced off a total of 28 times during their careers across all competitions.

The striker came out on top on nine of those occasions, seven games ended as draws, while the defender was victorious 12 times.