2 hours ago
7
Wayne Rooney made a cheeky comment at his former England and Man United team-mate Michael Owen during his appearance on Match of the Day amid an ongoing debate over their teenage stardom.
Debate began on social media over whether Owen or Rooney was a better player when they were 17 and 18.
'I saw Wazza got asked who was the best out of us at the age of 17 or 18. And I did smile,' Owen said on a podcast with Rio Ferdinand, sparking the debate.
'The only person you could possibly compare me to in our country is Wayne Rooney,' he added, when asked about comparisons to other young stars.
Owen doubled down on social media when fans were asked to compare, with the former forward offering statistics to back up the claim he was better at that age.
'At 17 I scored 18 PL goals (winning the Golden Boot), Wazza scored 6,' Owen wrote on social media site X. 'At 18, I again scored 18 goals (again winning the Golden Boot and coming 4th in The Ballon d'Or), Wazza scored 9.
Wayne Rooney joked about the debate over whether he or Michael Owen were better at 18
Owen recently sparked the debate by claiming he had been better as a teenager
Owen doubled down on social media, while Rooney responded saying 'I'd back myself'
'In our opening 7 seasons, Wazza didn't outscore me once (117 goals v 80). In which time I became the 2nd youngest Ballon d'Or winner ever.'
'Injuries hindered me from then on while he sustained his level. Therefore, he'll go down as a better player than me. But, at 17, please……'
Rooney had responded on the BBC's Wayne Rooney Show podcast when asked.
'I think his comments are fair. Of course, he's going to back himself. I'd back myself,' Rooney said.
'But, I'd never judge myself against Michael Owen because he's someone I actually looked up to and had the pleasure of playing alongside.'
Rooney took the chance to reference the debate again on Match of the Day when discussing Bukayo Saka's achievement of reaching 100 Premier League goal involvements at the age of 24.
Saka became the seventh youngest player to achieve the landmark, which he achieved in 212 matches.
Owen was the fastest to the century mark at 22 years and 57 days, taking 153 matches to do so.
A statistic showed Owen is the fastest player to have reached 100 Premier League goal involvements, leading to Rooney quipping he was 'clearly better at that age'
He edged ahead of Rooney, who was 65 days older when he reached the mark and had taken 187 matches.
'Yeah, I think that clearly shows that Michael was the better player than I was at that age,' Rooney quipped when presented with the statistics.
He then added: 'But for Saka, he is such an important player for Arsenal and for England, over the past three or four years he has probably been Arsenal's most important player.
'He has had some injuries which would have impacted those numbers, it would have been even better if that weren't the case I believe, but he is such an incredible player.'
Saka joined an impressive list with only Owen, Rooney, Robbie Fowler, Cesc Fabregas, Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku achieving the landmark at a younger age.
The Arsenal winger achieved the milestone by scoring a penalty in Arsenal's 2-0 win over West Ham on Saturday, a result which put the Gunners top of the table.
