Arguably the world’s greatest player, Lionel Messi has picked Wayne Rooney as the greatest English player of his generation. The pair have faced off against each other 4 times in their careers and the Argentine maestro insists that there is a lot of mutual respect between them.
"There has always been a great deal of respect between myself and Wayne Rooney," Messi told ShortList.
"For me he is the great English player of the generation.
"What he is capable of doing on the field is very special, and he is one of the few players that would improve any squad in Europe."
Rooney has been out of action for two months due to a knee injury and the performances of Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy have led some to question his place in the national side.
Roy Hodgson – Wayne Rooney is our captain
England manager Roy Hodgson said that Wayne Rooney will definitely be part of the upcoming Euro 2016 squad. The 68 year old manager said that it would take an “awful lot” to drop a player of the stature of Wayne Rooney.
It would take a lot before I say to Wayne Rooney after his captaincy over two years, after 19 games and two defeats, that because I am being pushed to make a brave, bold decision and show what a fantastic forward-thinking and adventurous coach I am, I am leaving you out. It would take an awful lot.
"Wayne Rooney is the captain and has done extremely well.
"Most teams, if they are any good, don’t throw their captain out the first time a young player comes on the team and scores a goal unless the captain, for some reason, is playing so badly or doing so badly there is a clear reason for doing so.
"Rooney has never given us any reasons to do that and I expect him to get back to fitness, I expect him to start playing well again and I expect him to be on the plane to France."
The Manchester United forward will be having a scan on his knee to determine how far away he is from returning to competitive action.
