Wayne Rooney suggests ex-Man Utd team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo is 'selfish' as he reiterates belief that Lionel Messi is the GOAT

Rooney claimed that he considers Lionel Messi to be less selfish than Ronaldo as he stated that his former Manchester United colleague only thinks about goals while the Argentine gives more effort on the pitch and tries to create chances.

Former Chelsea winger Eden Hazard recently claimed that he considers himself to be a better 'pure footballer' than the Al-Nassr star. Now Rooney has supported the Belgian's statement while speaking to YouTubers Lyes Bouzidi and CultureCams.

The former England striker said: "So for instance, Cristiano Ronaldo, his mindset is goals. He doesn’t care about anything else, it’s goals, that’s all he wants. Whereas you look at Messi, he wants to play a bit more.

"I suppose that’s what Hazard is saying, he liked to play – exactly like myself. I saw something that Gary Neville said recently, that Alex Ferguson always used to have a go at me for coming too deep, but it was because I wanted to play football. And I could have been a bit more selfish and stayed up top, and maybe scored a few more goals, but I wanted to play. I wanted to enjoy the game and I imagine that’s what Hazard means."

The Portugal captain had attacked his former colleagues Rooney and Neville in an interview with Piers Morgan in 2022. Ronaldo went on to claim that he no longer considers the duo as his friends after they criticised him towards the end of his second stint with the Red Devils.

The 39-year-old will be next seen in action for his club on Saturday against Al-Fateh in the Saudi Pro League while the Inter Miami star will be in action in his club's season opener against Real Salt Lake on February 22.