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Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has hailed Michael Owen as one of the best forwards in the game. He believes that the injuries prevented the former Liverpool and Newcastle United striker from becoming an icon.
Speaking on the BBC's Wayne Rooney Show, Rooney revealed that he used to look up and pretend to be Owen while he was playing football in his teenage. He added that the Englishman's peak at Liverpool made him one of the best players in the world at that time and said in a reel shared on Instagram:
"Michael Owen at 17, 18 was incredible. I used to go out on the streets and pretend to be him, I'd pretend to be Michael Owen, even though he played for Liverpool. I completely understand what he's saying but we're two completely different footballers and Michael Owen for a three, four-year period, was probably the best centre-forward in the world. Unfortunately, he did get his injuries and he probably couldn't adapt his game maybe as well as I could."
When told he was being humble for not comparing the trophies won, Rooney added:
"I'd never judge myself against Michael Owen because he's someone that I actually looked up to and had the pleasure of playing alongside. Obviously I played with him for England and then later on in his career at Manchester United. I was delighted for him because he came to United and that's a massive move for him, playing for Liverpool, he got a Premier League medal."
Wayne Rooney played 52 matches with Michael Owen for England and Manchester United. The two combined just three times, all of which were goals scored by Rooney, and they were for the national team against Switzerland, Croatia, and Russia.
What did Michael Owen say about Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney?
BBC's Match of the Day posted a question on Friday, September 5, asking who was the better player aged 17: Michael Owen or Wayne Rooney. Over 900 fans replied to the tweet, but it was Owen's reply that got everyone's attention.
The former Manchester United striker claimed that he was undoubtedly ahead during their teens, but Rooney will go down in history as the better player. He posted:
"At 17 I scored 18 PL goals (winning the Golden Boot), Wazza scored 6. At 18 I again scored 18 goals (again winning the Golden Boot and coming 4th in the Ballon d’Or), Wazza scored nine. In our opening seven seasons, Wazza didn’t outscore me once (117 goals v 80). In which time I became the 2nd youngest Ballon d'Or winner ever. Injuries hindered me from then on while he sustained his level. Therefore, he’ll go down as a better player than me. But, at 17, please..."
Michael Owen won the Premier League Golden Boot aged 17 and 18 during his time at Liverpool, and went on to win the Ballon d'Or aged 21. Wayne Rooney never won the Premier League Golden Boot in his career, and his best Ballon d'Or finish was fifth in 2011.
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Sripad is a veteran Sportskeeda football journalist who has been with the company for around 10 years. His tryst with writing happened in class XI when he started penning blogs, and his foray into football was during the early 2000s, watching matches with his cousins.
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