Rio Ferdinand rages at Jamie Carragher over Steven Gerrard's Saudi Arabia move as Sky Sports star hits back

 Football pundits and former rivals Jamie Carragher and Rio Ferdinand clashed on Twitter over Steven Gerrard's move to Saudi Arabia after Carragher previously voiced his opposition in the league

Rio Ferdinand raged at Jamie Carragher over his criticism of Saudi Arabia’s investment in football - but then went silent as his pal Steven Gerrard joined the Middle East exodus too.

Rio savagely mocked Jamie for not hearing a 'peep' out of the Sky Sports star - then taunted Jamie for carrying his ex-teammates boots to games.

But Liverpool legend Carragher clapped back at the ranting ex Man United star - saying Rio was afraid to upset his Arab 'paymasters'.

The bitter row was triggered over the increasing strength of the Saudi Pro League this summer - which has used its enormous wealth to attract some of the biggest names on the planet.

Premier League stars such as Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy and Ruben Neves have followed heavy-hitters Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema to the Middle-East.

Sky Sports pundit Carragher has been one of the more vocal opponents of Saudi’s alleged attempts at sports-washing, having tweeted: "Saudi has taken over Golf, the big Boxing fights & now they want to take over football!! This sports washing needs to be stopped!"

But his former Reds captain and close friend Steven Gerrard took over as Al-Ettifaq’s manager this week, leaving Ferdinand to question Carragher’s silence on the matter.

He said: “Jamie? Jamie Carragher man, where are you?... It's a disgrace, it needs investigating this league etc. Steven Gerrard's gone. You used to carry his boots and his bag to Anfield to games. Your boy's [Gerrard] gone over there and I've not heard a peep out of you. I've not heard how disappointed you are..."

Jamie Carragher replied with a brutal tweet

The BT Sport pundit went on to say many other clubs have sought to buy success in the past, believing that people were “going mad” just because of the country in question.

Yet Carragher was never likely to shy away from the direct slot, hitting back with a zinger that left football fans on Twitter in awe

He replied: "Never criticized Silva, Benzema, Neves or SG, I don’t like Saudi is trying to buy football like they have Golf. I knew you’d be all over it Rio Ferdinand," adding a money emoji, "like you were in Qatar!"

"That's why you refused to do the opening game [of the World Cup] for BBC Match of the Day, didn’t want to criticize your paymaster!"

Carragher was referencing the start of the BBC’s coverage of the World Cup in which Gary Lineker opened the show in Qatar by addressing human rights issues within the country. Ferdinand was not involved as a pundit for the game.

Meanwhile, Carragher’s Sky Sports colleague Gary Neville has called for a ban on Premier League teams selling players to Saudi Arabian clubs.

Neville - a former teammate of Ferdinand's - said the moves should be stopped until confirmation that “the integrity of the game isn't being damaged”.