Wayne Rooney opens up on his relationship with former Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo
Wayne Rooney recently discussed his relationship with former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, claiming that he used to mess with the Portuguese legend by calling him ugly. He also said that Ronaldo used to talk to himself while looking in the mirror.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast, Rooney stated that he used to play pranks on Sir Alex Ferguson by teaming up with Ronaldo. He said:
"We had a really good relationship, but we were the complete opposites. It was funny. Ronaldo was such a good character. Some of the stuff he used to do, with laughing and messing around, was similar to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He would look into the mirror telling himself he is beautiful."
The Manchester United legend added that they sometimes traveled together to training.
"Then there is me, who is the complete opposite - I did not have his looks! I was always telling him he was ugly. I used to say, 'no you're not' - messing around - but it used to wind him up. The two of us would always play pranks on the manager and I would pick him up at times to take him to training or to the hotel," Rooney said.
Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo played 205 matches together at Manchester United. They combined for 25 goals, with the Portuguese forward assisting the Englishman 14 times.
Wayne Rooney was not a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo's explosive Manchester United interview
Wayne Rooney spoke to CNN about Cristiano Ronaldo's infamous interview with Piers Morgan in November 2022 and claimed that he was surprised at the comments that were made about him.
In the interview, Ronaldo had said (via Eurosport):
"He (Rooney) finished his career in his 30s. I'm still playing at a high level; I'm not going to say that I'm looking better than him, which is true.”
Responding to Ronaldo's comments, Rooney added that Manchester United were bound to take action and said:
"What I've said is age comes to all of us, and Cristiano is obviously feeling that and he's finding it hard to deal with that. Obviously he's done an interview that's gone global. Bit strange, some of the comments are strange in there but I'm sure Manchester United will deal with it once they've seen the full interview and they'll take whatever action they need to take."
Manchester United ended up terminating Cristiano Ronaldo's contract just days ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.