Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi: Who is more selfish? Wayne Rooney reveals

Wayne Rooney asserted that he believes Lionel Messi to be less selfish than Ronaldo, saying that the Argentine puts in more effort on the pitch and looks to create opportunities, while his former Manchester United teammate only considers goals.

According to recent claims, Eden Hazard, a former winger for Chelsea, believes he is a better "pure footballer" than the Al-Nassr star. Rooney has now backed up the Belgian's assertion in an interview with CultureCams and Lyes Bouzidi on YouTube.

The former England striker said: "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. I saw something that Gary 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."

In 2022, the Portugal captain made disparaging remarks about his former teammates, Rooney and Neville, during an interview with Piers Morgan. After receiving criticism from the pair near the conclusion of his second spell with the Red Devils, Ronaldo continued to say that "he no longer views them as pals", according to Goal.

The 39-year-old will next be seen playing for his team in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday against Al-Fateh. On February 22, the Inter Miami star will play in his team's season-opening against Real Salt Lake.