"Messi wants to play a little more" - Wayne Rooney offers comparison on Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi after Eden Hazard claim

Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo only cares about scoring goals, while players like Lionel Messi want to play across the pitch more. His comments came as a response to Eden Hazard claiming he was a more talented player than the Portugal icon.

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players to have ever graced the game. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner is the highest goalscorer of all time, netting 874 goals and providing 249 assists in 1205 appearances for club and country. His haul remains considerably higher than Lionel Messi's (821 goals and 361 assists in 1047 appearances).

Despite this, Hazard spoke to L'Equipe earlier this month and said (via GOAL):

"Individually, Messi is perhaps the only one. I loved watching the Barcelona player, less so at the end, but he's the greatest in history. It's impossible to take the ball away from him. Cristiano is a bigger player than me but, in terms of pure football, I honestly don't think so."

"Neymar, maybe. After that, he's no better than me, but at Real, you've got the best, also in terms of their careers: Benzema, Modric, they were the best, Kroos, Kev' (De Bruyne), they all exude football."

Rooney was recently asked about Hazard's comments by YouTubers Lyes Bouzidi and CultureCams, to which he replied (via talkSPORT):

“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."

He added:

“I saw something that Gery 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.”

Wayne Rooney plied his trade alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United before the latter's move to Real Madrid in 2009. However, he hasn't shied away from hailing Lionel Messi as the GOAT over his former teammate, doing so back in 2012, as well as after the Argentine icon won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

---

Wayne Rooney reckons Real Madrid superstar can follow in Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's footsteps by winning the Ballon d'Or

Wayne Rooney has tipped Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham to emulate Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi by winning the Ballon d'Or in the near future.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have won the prestigious award 13 times between themselves, with the latter winning his eighth in October 2023. While they have dominated Europe for nearly two decades, Bellingham has taken La Liga by storm this season.

Rooney said (via GOAL):

"If he keeps doing what he’s doing then why not? Again we've gone through that cycle of Messi and Ronaldo where they’ve dominated that. I'm sure there will be five or six players fighting to try and win the next one. I'm sure if he keeps doing what he's doing he'll be right up there."

Bellingham has scored 20 goals and provided eight assists in 29 appearances across all competitions this season.