Robert Huth was a towering figure during his playing days but even he admits there’s one teammate nobody would mess with.
The German defender played his entire professional career in English football after Chelsea snapped him up from Union Berlin in 2001.
He went on to make his debut for the Blues aged just 17 and later scooped two Premier League titles under Jose Mourinho.
Spells at Middlesbrough and Stoke City followed before Huth capped off arguably his greatest achievement in helping Leicester City win the Premier League title in 2016.
It’s fair to say Huth knows his way round the Premier League and during his successful career, had the opportunity to test himself against the biggest and baddest English football had to offer.
Luckily, Huth was teammates with the one player ‘nobody messed with’ during his six-year spell at Stoke.
The Potters, under the watchful eye of Tony Pulis at the time, were known for their non-nonsense tough-tackling approach.
It would be unfair to say that’s all they had to offer. At times, they were able to produce football efficient enough to disrupt the Premier League big-boys.
Any team going to Stoke in the early 2010s would know they were in for a fight up against big hitters such as captain Ryan Shawcross, Jon Walters and Rory Delap.
However, one star reigned supreme when it came to pure brute strength which quickly gained the respect of his teammates.
Huth joined talkSPORT drive this week and was asked which of his former teammates would win a Stoke City Royal Rumble, and the response was emphatic.
“Ricardo Fuller,” Huth revealed.
“He was strong when he wasn’t even angry, can you imagine if he was angry?
“No one messed with Ric,” he added. “He had the respect of the boys that if it does kick off, drop a shoulder, get out.
Darren Bent, who faced off against Fuller during his playing days, doubled down on Huth’s claim, saying: “Oh my god he was so strong, I swear to you. I’m a striker, he’s a striker but the way he’d back in he was so strong.”
Fuller spent six years at Stoke scoring 50 goals in 208 games before spells with Charlton, Millwall and Blackpool followed.
The Jamaica international retired in 2020 after a stint with Northern Premier League outfit Nantwich Town.
However, his presence is still very much felt at Stoke following the club’s decision to rename their sports bar at the bet365 Stadium Ricardo’s in honour of the striker.
As for the toughest striker Huth faced in his career, that award goes to legendary Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.
“I think it’s pretty straight forward,” Huth said. “Every game I played against him, he was on it. He was always awesome.
“There was not a game where I thought he’s five percent off it. Even games where they’d already won the league and he’s elbowing you in the face. Come on, give me a break!”
