The former Manchester United defender retired from the game in 2015 but admits that he is still plagued by back pain, which means that he sometimes needs to recuperate in a wheelchair.

Speaking to Men's Health UK, Ferdinand said: "I’ve had a bad back for a long time. I’ve got injuries that I had from my career…I was on tablets and injections for six years to play games. That’s affected me. I get some bad moments of back pain where I have to be in a hospital for a couple of days or in a wheelchair for a couple of days. It’s mad, but it just comes out of nowhere."

The ex-England international moved to Dubai last year with his wife Kate and family and sees the change as an "adventure" after years of living by football fixture lists.

Ferdinand said: "I look at it like an adventure. My life has been governed by the fixture list while playing football and then, post-career, being a pundit. There aren’t many opportunities in life where you get time to make a big change, have an adventure, step out of your comfort zone and explore something new. So this is it. This is what we wanted to do."

The six-time Premier League winner left his punditry role with TNT Sports last year to focus on his Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel and says he did so because he wanted to be "tested".

He said: "I like being tested. I like pressure. I had it fine at TNT. I could have signed a new contract at TNT. Easily. But that ain’t who I am really.

"It’s time for something new….Because I saw the new world is that linear TV and live football are always going to be there, but there’s also another world outside the 90 minutes that intrigues me, which I look at like a fan. So I want to know what these guys are eating, how do they sleep, how do they recover? I want to get the public closer to that and I want to be at the forefront of that."

The full Rio Ferdinand interview is in the new issue of Men's Health UK and at https://www.menshealth.com/uk/fitness/a70255382/rio-ferdinand-mens-health/