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          Premier League Hall of Fame: Who will join Wayne Rooney, Patrick Vieira in class of 2022?

          • Chris Wright, Toe Poke writerMar 24, 2022, 12:30 PM

          The Premier League has used the international break to announce its 25-player shortlist of former stars who are vying to become the latest inductees into the Hall of Fame, with Manchester United's all-time top scorer Wayne Rooney and Patrick Vieira, the captain of Arsenal's "Invincibles" already sworn in as part of the class of 2022.

          The next six players to join them in the pantheon will be voted for by fans, who have until Sunday to cast their ballot over at the Premier League Hall of Fame website.

          The Hall of Fame honours the greatest players to have graced the Premier League since its inception in 1992-93 with Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Dennis Bergkamp, Steven Gerrard and David Beckham forming the inaugural wave of inductions last year.

          Now, 25 potential candidates have the chance to join them with the shortlist drawn up by the Premier League based on each players' career statistics and achievements -- the only criteria being that the player must have retired from professional football by Jan. 1, 2022.

          Each Hall of Fame inductee receives a special personalised medallion, a personalised Hall of Fame shirt with their name and number on the back, plus a donation of ยฃ10,000 from the Premier League to their charity of choice.

          Here are the runners and riders to join Rooney and Vieira in the Class of 2022:

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          Tony Adams

          Arsenal legend Adams wore the armband with pride as the Gunners won a brace of Premier League and FA Cup doubles in 1997-98 and 2001-02 respectively. To this day he remains the only player in English football history to have captained a title-winning team in three different decades (a record that also takes in the 1988-89 First Division championship).

          Sergio Aguero

          The highest non-English goal scorer in Premier League history with 184 goals in 275 games, Aguero played a pivotal role in Manchester City's transformation from also-rans to title-winning goliaths. His name has also become intrinsically synonymous with a major milestone in the City story as his famously dramatic stoppage-time goal saw City clinch their maiden title in 2011-12.

          Sol Campbell

          Campbell made one of the Premier League's most controversial transfers when he left Tottenham Hotspur for local rivals Arsenal on a free transfer in 2001. Nevertheless, he forged a reputation as one of the division's finest ever centre-backs during stints with Tottenham, Arsenal (where he became a mainstay of the "Invincibles" back four), Portsmouth and briefly, Newcastle United.

          Petr Cech

          A four-time title winner during his 11-year tenure at Chelsea, Cech also spent the final four seasons of his career with Arsenal before bowing out as the holder of the record for the most clean sheets kept in Premier League history (202 in 443 games).

          Andrew Cole

          Cole remains the third-highest goal scorer in Premier League history after ending his thoroughly successful career with 187 goals in 414 games for the likes of Newcastle and Manchester United, winning the title five times with the latter.

          Ashley Cole

          Arguably the best left-back of his generation, Cole made 385 appearances in the Premier League split between Arsenal and Chelsea, winning the title twice with the former (2001-02, 2003-04) and once with the latter (2009-10).

          Didier Drogba

          Drogba enjoyed two separate stints with Chelsea between 2004 and 2015, winning three titles in his first spell and a further one in his second. He also scored 104 Premier League goals for the Blues, far more than any other non-English player in the club's history.

          Patrice Evra

          Evra collected no fewer than five Premier League titles in just 278 appearances for Manchester United, thus averaging a title once every 55 games. No wonder he's spent much of his retirement years telling us all: "I love this game!"

          Les Ferdinand

          The first of two members of the Ferdinand family to make the Hall of Fame shortlist, "Sir Les" is the 11th-highest scorer in the history of the Premier League with 149 goals for Queens Park Rangers, Newcastle, Tottenham, West Ham United, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers.

          Rio Ferdinand

          A twin pillar of Manchester United's last great centre-back pairing. Rio (cousin of Les) Ferdinand provided the unruffled silk to Nemanja Vidic's steel while winning six Premier League titles, which makes him one of the most decorated players in English football.

          Robbie Fowler

          Still the player to have scored more Premier League goals (93) before the age of 23 than any other in history, the prolific Liverpool striker quickly became so iconic among his own fans that they still refer to him as "God" to this day.

          Vincent Kompany

          Made captain of Man City for the 2011-12 season, the inspired decision coincided with the club going on to end their long 44-year wait for a league title. A mainstay of the team for many years after, Kompany added three more Premier League championships to his collection before leaving to return to his native Belgium in 2019 -- but not before helping to deliver one last title as he went.

          Matthew Le Tissier

          An outrageously gifted player who never seemed to break into a jog, never mind a full-blown sprint, Le Tissier scored 100 Premier League goals for Southampton including an array of some of the very best long-range strikes, chips and lobs the league has ever witnessed.

          Gary Neville

          Neville was a tenacious ever-present at right-back for Manchester United for many years, making 400 Premier League appearances for the club while playing a considerable part in eight title wins between 1995-96 and 2008-09. He even scored the odd goal.

          Michael Owen

          Owen came flying out of the blocks as an exciting teenager for Liverpool, winning back-to-back Premier League Golden Boots in his first two full seasons as a senior professional by scoring a combined tally of 66 league goals across 1997-98 and 1998-99. Injuries came to blight his later career but he still bowed out having scored a thoroughly respectable 150 goals in 326 games at Liverpool, Newcastle, Man United and Stoke City.

          Peter Schmeichel

          Regularly counted among the very best goalkeepers to have ever played the game, Schmeichel provided a human barricade between the posts for Manchester United as the club hoovered up five of the first seven Premier League titles contested. The Dane played 310 times in the top flight and, rather unusually for a keeper, scored a goal during his stint at Aston Villa.

          Paul Scholes

          After making his first-team debut for Manchester United in 1993, Scholes went on to win more Premier League titles (11) than any other English player during his career while making 499 appearances in two stints (separated by a temporary "retirement") for his boyhood club.

          Teddy Sheringham

          The 12th-highest goal scorer in Premier League history, Sheringham scored 146 goals for the likes of Nottingham Forest, Tottenham and Man United -- where he won all of his three league titles. He also displayed amazing longevity, playing on long enough to become the oldest outfield player in Premier League history (40 years, 272 days) and the oldest player to score in a Premier League match (40 years, 268 days) with West Ham.

          John Terry

          Terry captained Chelsea to five Premier League titles, making 492 appearances for the club while also forging a neat sideline as a goal scorer. Indeed, the centre-back is the highest scoring defender in league history with 41 goals to his name.

          Yaya Toure

          An influential figure in the club's rise to dominance, Toure won three Premier League titles with Man City while scoring 62 goals in the top flight from central midfield. Skilful, strong and a force of nature in full flight, the Ivory Coast international will forever be remembered as one of modern-day City's very best.

          Edwin van der Sar

          After beginning his Premier League career with Fulham, Van der Sar joined Manchester United in 2005-06 and quickly established himself as one of the club's greatest goalkeepers. He made 313 appearances in the Premier League overall and kept 132 clean sheets overall, also winning four league titles in the space of just six seasons at Old Trafford.

          Ruud van Nistelrooy

          Van Nistelrooy played 150 times in the Premier League for Manchester United and managed to score 95 goals. The Dutch striker also won the title with the club in 2002-03 -- the same year in which he claimed the Golden Boot by scoring 25 goals in 34 games.

          Robin van Persie

          After beginning his Premier League journey at Arsenal in 2004-05, Van Persie was forced to wait until 2012-13 to claim his first title, doing so in his first season since leaving the Gunners to join Manchester United. He scored 144 goals in 280 games before bringing his 11-year sojourn in England to an end in the summer of 2015 with a move to Fenerbahce.

          Nemanja Vidic

          Rock solid and seemingly impervious to pain. Vidic regularly put his body on the line for the Manchester United cause, winning five Premier League titles in eight years at Old Trafford. He also formed half of one of the league's great centre-back pairings, alongside fellow Hall of Fame nominee Rio Ferdinand.

          Ian Wright

          A proud member of the Premier League's "100 Club" -- players who have scored a century or more goals in the competition -- Wright was a constant and effervescent source of goals for Arsenal for seven years as well as a title winner in 1997-98.