Fernando Torres' ultimately decisive strike in Manchester United's defeat at Liverpool has further sharpened the pencils of those wishing to proclaim the waning of Rio Ferdinand. Last week saw the man himself declare that he needed a run of ten games to pull himself back to the required levels of performance and fitness. However, the signs are that Sir Alex Ferguson's patience is fraying.

"He has one game back and picks up another injury when he really needs games," said Ferguson last month. This week saw him move on his concerns a little further. "He has to get good form. That's an important issue for the coach to pick the right team," he said on Monday. "In defence you've maybe got more options than other positions. He'll need to get his form right."

Meanwhile, Ferguson has made great recent play of his admiration for Jonny Evans, the young Ulsterman who has stepped in frequently when Ferdinand has been laid low by a series of inter-related back and muscle injuries. Ferdinand could do with reading the runes. His friend Wes Brown, another current alternative, once received the Ferguson public seal of approval after the controversial sale of Jaap Stam.

The Scot's career has been littered with incidences of his jettisoning players when he has had his use of them. Rio can look in the direction of the likes of Jim Leighton, Stam, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and even Roy Keane for past warnings of his manager's ruthlessness.

There are signs Rio may even be setting out his own exit strategy. Last month saw the Sun quote a mysterious "source" on the idea that both Real Madrid and Barcelona are interested in signing Peckham/Blackheath's finest. Considering his and their current form, the absent-minded Ferdinand looks like he might just fit squarely into that Real defence. The source, presumably a friend or agent, stated that "Rio can see the sense of it."

And the reasons offered may just hit at the nub of the current malaise of the self-trademarked "world's greatest defender": a taking of his eye off the ball in a figurative sense to echo the source of many of his recent errors. "Not only would it be a fresh challenge as he nears the end of his career, it would also fit all his projects off the pitch," added our mystery man. "Rio has big business plans, which are already taking shape, and would really take off if he moved to one of the big Spanish clubs."

What are those business plans? There is a mooted lifestyle management company, whatever one of those is. A "digital magazine" called #5 Mag has hit the internet. "Nearly half a million readers spread across 20 countries, the #5 army gets stronger," says the latest issue. The mag's greatest scoop so far was a video of our hero on the phone to Michael Jackson and telling him he was looking forward to seeing him live at London's 02 and meeting him face to face...

Following the not particularly well-received "Rio's World Cup Wind-Ups" of 2006, unlikely to be recomissioned by the Fabio Capello regime, there's the move into film production, in partnership with tabloid pariah Ashley Cole. Last week saw the premiere of "Dead Man Running", a tale of light romance spread across three generations in the French Protestant stronghold of La Rochelle as they seek to...no, really it's gangster romp starring rapper Fifty Cent and hooligan/geezer mockney marvel Danny Dyer. Predictably, reviews have not been good and some wags have noted its title as rather reflective of the current plight of its executive producer.

Ferguson has never been exactly receptive to player's outside interests making the headlines instead of his football. David Beckham and "that silly girl", as his wife Victoria was referred to, were shunned when he felt the time was right, though Beckham perhaps felt it was right to go too. Beckham's activities were tolerated until on-pitch performances were suspected of suffering. "Boot-gate", where Beckham ended up with a gashed face after a dressing-room ruckus, signalled the parting of the waves there. Considering lapses like the ludicrously lazy flipped pass that presented Craig Bellamy with an equaliser in the Manchester derby, Ferdinand may soon require protective headgear.

Rio may also be minded to recall a series of disastrous failures by footballers in business. Setting aside George Best's nightclub ventures, he can look at Johan Cruyff having to come out of retirement after losing all his money in a pig-farm and the series of financial baths taken by Terry Venables, who also co-created his own detective series in "Hazel".

As long ago as 2006, Ferdinand stated, in ever-disastrous third-person fashion, that "the TV, the music, the fashion - it all goes to make up Rio Ferdinand." He had preceded that by asserting that "football is the most important thing in my life". To keep his place for club and country and keep the cash flowing in for his other ventures , he would do well to remember that sequence of priorities.