It might be hard to imagine that life could get much better for Rio Ferdinand when he runs out at Stamford Bridge this lunchtime, with the Barclays Premier League trophy within touching distance and a Champions League semi-final, second leg against Barcelona to follow on Tuesday, but it emerged yesterday that the defender is in pole position to become the next captain of Manchester United and England.

On the eve of what could be the Premier League title decider against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Sir Alex Ferguson said yesterday that Ferdinand is the “natural successor” for the captaincy at Old Trafford as Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs reach the twilight of their careers. As if that were not encouraging enough, there have been strong indications that the 29-year-old is winning his battle to persuade Fabio Capello to appoint him as England captain ahead of John Terry and Steven Gerrard.

Capello, the England manager, said yesterday, at a question-and-answer session with customers of the Nationwide Building Society, that he has “not decided” who will be his captain in the long term, having auditioned Gerrard and Ferdinand for the role in his first two matches in charge and with others, such as Terry and Gareth Barry, likely to get their turn in the end-of-season friendly matches against the United States and Trinidad & Tobago.

But, regardless of who leads the team out in those matches, it is understood that Ferdinand is clear favourite to be appointed to the role on a permanent basis at the start of next season, having impressed Capello more than any other player over the four months since the Italian's appointment.

By his admission, Ferdinand has a chequered past - infamously missing a drugs test in September 2003, for which he was banned from football for eight months - but he has gone a long way towards persuading Capello that he has the right character to be the captain of the national team. “I will choose based on their attitude on the pitch and their behaviour off the field as well,” Capello said yesterday. “A captain must be a leader. He must lead by example and set an example and drag the team forward. At the same time he needs to be a model outside the pitch and outside football.”

While Capello has not been specific about Ferdinand, Ferguson was more effusive yesterday. “With Gary injured and Ryan sometimes unavailable this season, Rio has been our captain on many occasions,” the United manager said. “Obviously as Ryan gets older, that is Rio's destiny. His experience has added to his many abilities. He is one of the most natural footballers in England. For a defender, he is so quick and mobile and technically gifted. His performance in Barcelona on Wednesday was absolutely superb.”

Ferdinand has been similarly impressive all season, so much so that his absence from the shortlist for the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year award remains a mystery, but he said this week that he was not concerned about that or by talk of the England captaincy. “You don't set out in your career or at the start of every season for personal accolades,” he said. “You set out to achieve things as a team. If personal accolades come from that, then great, but that's not top of my agenda. I want to be a successful player and I want to win more and more trophies. I'm greedy.

“I want to win the Premier League every year, I want the European Cup every year and I want to win things with England. Being England captain for the once so far was great. Likewise, being skipper at Manchester United is absolutely fantastic. But all that is diminished if we aren't successful. Success as team is paramount.”

Spoken like a true captain, as Capello will probably note.

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