The Derby County forward has added his opinion to an unending debate between the two best footballers of this generation.
The duo have shared eleven of the last twelve Ballon d’Or awards with the Argentine edging the Portuguese by only one Golden Ball.
Rooney played alongside the 35-year-old during his time at Old Trafford, forming a lethal partnership with the Portugal superstar for five years before Ronaldo moved to Spain to play for Real Madrid in the summer of 2009.
Having also played against Messi several times, notably during the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals in Rome and London respectively, the Englishman believes the Argentina superstar is a better footballer compared to Ronaldo.
The former Manchester United captain admits Ronaldo was not focused on goals when he was in England but always had the desire to be the best.
“Ronaldo wasn’t as focused on goals when we started playing together but you could see that all he wanted was to be the best player in the world.”
“He practised and practised and began to produce,” the 34-year-old wrote in his column for The Times.
“Cristiano has become an incredible scorer and he and Messi are arguably the best two players the game has seen.”
“Those two have completely changed the game in terms of goalscoring numbers and I don’t think they’ll ever be matched.”
He added: “But despite my friendship with Cristiano, I’d go for Messi.”
“It’s for the same reason I loved watching Xavi and Scholes, it’s the different things in Messi’s game.”
“I’ve talked about composure and I can’t remember seeing Messi score when he has hit the ball as hard as he could.”
“He just rolls them in, makes it so easy, Ronaldo is ruthless in the box, a killer.”
“But Messi will torture you before he kills you. With Messi you just get the impression he is having more fun.”
