'People think I hate him!' - Wayne Rooney lifts lid on relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo and reveals why he prefers Lionel Messi to former Man Utd team-mate

Rooney and Ronaldo's on-field partnership was highly successful, but differences in opinion emerged later. In 2022, Rooney criticised Ronaldo's behaviour during his second spell at Manchester United calling him an 'unwelcome distraction' after Ronaldo refused to play and walked off down the tunnel against Tottenham. Ronaldo, in turn, retaliated by commenting on Rooney's early retirement and even made personal remarks about his appearance. 

In an interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo said: "I don’t know why he criticises me so badly… probably because he finished his career and I’m still playing at a high level. I’m not going to say that I’m better looking than him. Which is true." Ouch!

Rooney told Rio Ferdinand Presents: "People think I hate him. I love him! I think he's an absolute genius; what he's doing is incredible. I don't think people realise how close he and I were. Just because I've said Messi is better than Ronaldo, people think I don't like Cristiano. To be honest, over the last couple of years, I'm thinking, 'Do you know what?', he's probably gonna be the one when you look back, Cristiano, because he keeps going. I absolutely love Messi, I love watching him play, and that was the only reason because I think Messi had a little bit more in terms of how he played, and taking players on."

In further, gushing testament to Ronaldo, Rooney said: "Cristiano's an absolute genius in what he's doing; he's just turned 40, and what he's doing is incredible. I take my hat off to him, I think, 'You know what, fair play,' and I can't speak a bad word about him."