Ferdinand has the right figure for a footballer (3)
I believe the answer is:
rio
'a footballer' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.
'ferdinand has the right figure' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'right' could be 'r' (common abbreviation) and 'r' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'io' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rio that I've seen before include "Location of next Olympic Games, in short" , "Spanish word for river" , "... Grande, ... de Janeiro" , "Port, -- de Janeiro" , "(Golfer) in the sand" .)