'Bit strange' - Wayne Rooney responds after Cristiano Ronaldo's comments in his interview with Piers Morgan

Updated 18/11/2022 at 16:03 GMT

Wayne Rooney spoke to CNN about his former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo's interview with Piers Morgan. Rooney was honoured at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai, and received the Player Career accolade. The duo played together for five years at Old Trafford, between 2004 and 2009. In that time, Rooney and Ronaldo won three Premier League titles and the Champions League together.

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Wayne Rooney has responded to Cristiano Ronaldo’s comments in his explosive interview with Piers Morgan.

Ronaldo addressed what he perceived as criticism from Rooney in the media following Morgan’s tongue-in-cheek question about whether the Portugal captain had more pounds in the bank or Instagram followers.

“That's a good question! Probably similar!” He said in his response to Morgan.

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Morgan then added: “I'm just trying to work out how Wayne Rooney could hate you even more.”

This prompted the 37-year-old to answer: “Not only him, imagine the rest of the rats they are going to criticise me too, but it is good to still be the No 1.”

Ronaldo also criticised Rooney more directly in the interview and said: “Probably [it's jealousy]. Probably - because he finished his career in his 30s. I'm still playing at a high level; I'm not going to say that I'm looking better than him, which is true.”

Rooney offered his response to the comments at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai, where the former England captain received the Player Career accolade.

He told CNN: “Well, listen, Cristiano Ronaldo's a fantastic player and, as I've said before, he and [Lionel] Messi are the two best players probably to play the game.

“And, again, it's not a criticism. What I've said is age comes to all of us, and Cristiano is obviously feeling that and he's finding it hard to deal with that.

“Obviously he's done an interview that's gone global. Bit strange, some of the comments are strange in there but I'm sure Manchester United will deal with it once they've seen the full interview and they'll take whatever action they need to take.”

Manchester United have said they have "initiated the appropriate steps” in relation to his explosive interview.

Ronaldo's future at Old Trafford appears bleak, but United’s no. 7 was ambiguous when quizzed whether he would be at the club after the World Cup.

He said: "It's difficult to tell right now, it’s because, we, my mood is right now to the World Cup.

"It's probably my last World Cup, of course, my fifth World Cup. I don't know what's gonna happen after the World Cup, but as I told you before, and I will say again, the fans will be always in my heart.”

Ronaldo’s focus is now on the start of Portugal’s World Cup campaign against Ghana on November 24.