Zlatan Ibrahimovic made some interesting comments about Wayne Rooney as he discussed Cristiano Ronaldo’s spell as a Manchester United player.
Back in 2022, Ronaldo delivered an unprovoked attack on former teammate Rooney during a much-talked-about interview with Piers Morgan.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner went as far as claiming that Rooney was “jealous” of his career longevity while appearing to refer to him as a “rat” along with other former colleagues.
Ronaldo and Rooney won three Premier League titles and the Champions League between 2004 and 2009.
Both players enjoyed playing with one another. Rooney acted as the perfect foil for Ronaldo to strut his stuff on the Old Trafford turf.
However, Ibrahimovic saw it differently. Speaking in 2015 before Ronaldo made a return to Old Trafford, he remarked Rooney was putting in more work which got overlooked.
“When he played with Cristiano Ronaldo, all the work was done by Rooney,” he told BBC Sport.
“These great players have their moments over one to three years. But to continue over five years, for ten years, the way Wayne Rooney has done is not easy. It’s pressure every day playing for a big team.”
Ibrahimovic would also make similar comments as he was being interviewed for a documentary about Rooney.
“When Cristiano Ronaldo played at United, Rooney did all the work but Cristiano took all the glory,” he said.
“He was the one who was getting the goals. Rooney ran, fought and made far more of a team sacrifice than the player from Madeira.”
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Rooney would go on to become United’s all-time top goalscorer, adding two more Premier League titles to his name.
And much to his delight, Ibrahimovic would play one season with Rooney at United, winning the Carabao Cup and Europa League under Jose Mourinho.
Back in 2015, when he was being interviewed for the documentary about Rooney, Zlatan said: “If I can’t play alongside Wayne, then I’ll just need to keep watching him on television.”
The Swede added: “Great players have exceptional phases that last from between one to three years, it’s not normal that this phase lasts five years as in the case with Rooney.”