Josko Gvardiol picked out two Manchester City players as his Premier League GOATs, before surprisingly selecting a Manchester United legend to go alongside them.
All-conquering City have won six of the last eight top-flight titles under Pep Guardiola and have become one of the undisputed behemoths of the English game.
They have been inspired on to glory by a number of all-time greats over the years, while the current crop have the untouchable Erling Haaland up front.
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Gvardiol may be lucky enough to rub shoulders with Haaland, but he instead named two Manchester City all-timers and a United talisman as the best to grace the Premier League.
Josko Gvardiol applauds during Manchester City's draw with AS Monaco in the Champions League
Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Ciancaphoto Studio/Getty Images
Josko Gvardiol says Wayne Rooney is a Premier League GOAT
Asked to pick his three top-flight GOATs, the defender went for Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero.
De Bruyne, of course, departed the Etihad as a free agent at the end of last season after Guardiola made the decision not to renew his contract, and he went on to sign for Napoli.
Aguero scored the most goals in City’s history, with an incredible 260 in 390 matches, and bade an emotional farewell in 2021 after his deal ran down.
However, Gvardiol also included United’s own record scorer in the mix.
He told ESPN on Instagram: “When I was younger, I used to watch a lot of Rooney.”
Despite Wayne Rooney pulling on the famous red of United during his glittering career, Gvardiol’s choice isn’t particularly surprising. After all, the now 39-year-old netted 208 goals in the Premier League.
Wayne Rooney celebrates scoring a goal for Manchester United against Reading in the FA Cup in 2017
Photo by Tom Purslow/Manchester United via Getty Images
Pep Guardiola’s Wayne Rooney praise
Guardiola has worked with a host of the sport’s greatest players during his stints at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City, so it spoke volumes that he lavished special praise on Rooney back in 2014.
Speaking ahead of Bayern’s Champions League quarter-final showdown against United, Guardiola said Rooney was “a big player, one of the best I have seen in my career.”
Rooney is equally an admirer of Guardiola’s coaching and hailed his impact in July 2023.
“Guardiola has been one of the best things to happen to English football,” he said.
“It’s not just the league but the national team too, because of some of the coaching he’s given the young English players who have gone on to become senior players and spread that around.”