Wayne Rooney was one of the greatest footballers English football has ever produced. Not just that, but he will also be remembered as among the very best to play for Manchester United.
With a player so established at the very peak of the sport, he has shared the pitch with some brilliant teammates and frightening opponents. As such, it's always interesting to hear opinions from somebody like Rooney on certain footballing matters.
In 2025, he was asked to name the 'best dribbler of all time' and was in no doubt when giving his answer.
Wayne Rooney Called Lionel Messi 'Best Dribbler of all Time'
Snubbed former Man Utd teammate Cristiano Ronaldo
While he played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo – a brilliant footballer who was certainly a pretty handy dribbler in his days at Old Trafford – Rooney opted to name his long-term adversary instead, simply saying:
While he did not elaborate much on his answer, the Englishman has praised the Argentine in the past. Speaking in 2018, Rooney said he was the greatest player of all time and recalled losing to the Barcelona icon in two Champions League final defeats, which came in 2009 and 2011. He said:
"In both games if we had been against any other team but Barcelona you would have fancied us to win. In my eyes they are the best team ever and Messi is the best player ever. What he gets to do is incredible. Messi has just got a bit of everything.
"Ronaldo has gone from a winger to a striker and a goalscorer. Messi a bit of everything - you see him scoring goals from playing probably a deep midfield role at times, and where I'm probably still walking on the pitch he's scoring. So he is probably the best."
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Messi Undoubtedly One of the Finest Dribblers in Football History
Diego Maradona and Garrincha also among the best
It's certainly fair that Rooney calls Messi one of the greatest dribblers of all time. After all, as a 20-year-old, he completed an average of 8.4 dribbles per game, more than any other player on record in StatsBomb's database.
Former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola, who played a key role in his development, hailed Messi as "a player who plays with zero adornments." The Catalan added: "I've never seen a stepover from him, or a [pointless] flick. He is the ultimate in effectiveness."
Put in simpler terms, Jose Mourinho once said:
"When Messi is one-on-one, you are dead."
Diego Maradona and Garrincha are perhaps the only footballers in the history of the sport who can be considered just as effective dribblers. But seeing as Messi played in the same era as Rooney, with the Englishman suffering directly at the hands of the Argentine in those two aforementioned Champions League finals, it's little surprise that he was classed as the number one dribbler.
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