Rio Ferdinand believes the current season is the worst standard of Premier League in over 15 years, and that none of the current teams would beat his 2008 Manchester United, Jose Mourinho's first Chelsea team or Arsenal's 2003-04 Invincibles.
The former Manchester United defender cited a lack of elite quality in the division and so much inconsistent form for the drop in quality.
With Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich now buying all the top tier of players, Ferdinand expressed concern that the Premier League doesn't seem to be bringing in the second tier, either.
"The teams aren't as good as what they had been for the last 15 years," Ferdinand said from the green room of BT Sport studios in London, where he was analysing the Champions League.
"This year is the worst standard of Premier League football teams I've seen for a long time.
"All the best players in the world don't play in the Premier League, for one. The second tier of the best players in world don't play in the Premier League. When has that ever been?
"And another reason, as well, not one of these teams here playing this year would beat the 2008 Man United team, they wouldn't beat the 1999 Man United team, they wouldn't beat the first Mourinho Chelsea team, they wouldn't beat the Invincibles. That's a fact."
Ferdinand does believe that the current United team do have a good chance of winning the title or another trophy, despite so much criticism of manager Louis van Gaal's style, precisely because it gives them a consistency that the rest of the teams don't seem to possess.
"They look the most stable at the moment. They look just stable. They're just getting through games, finding ways of getting through games," Ferdinand said.
"Now, us romanticists as Man United fans, saying it's not great football. At the end of the day, if he gets a trophy, he'll have done what is asked of him.
"I think they will, for the moment. I think he'll be carrying out his duty, if he manages that."
Ferdinand also cited Sir Alex Ferguson's willingness to drum complacent players out of his side for United's success in previous years.