Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi? Manchester United summer signing Bryan Mbuemo picks his favorite

Manchester United star Bayern Mbuemo picked Lionel Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo as his favorite player of all time. A recent video of the former Brentford star has resurfaced on social media after his Premier League debut at Old Trafford against Arsenal.

Speaking to The F2Freestylers, Mbeumo was asked to pick eight of his favorite players from the top countries selected by the presenter. The Cameroonian star named Wayne Rooney as his choice from England, followed by Juninho from Brazil and Andrea Pirlo from Italy.

The Manchester United winger opted for Ronaldo from Portugal, Andres Iniesta from Spain, and Toni Kroos from Germany. He named Lionel Messi as his favorite Argentine and Eden Hazard as the best Belgian to end the initial round of picks.

The eight players were then pitted against each other in a knockout format, and it was Rooney, Ronaldo, Iniesta, and Messi who advanced to the next round. The Portuguese and Argentine superstars were the final names to pick from for Mbeumo, and the Manchester United star quickly sided with the Inter Miami captain.

The former Brentford star made a move to Old Trafford this summer and spoke to Manchester United's media team. He named Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as inspirations in his interview and said (via Express):

"My first top was one with Ronaldo behind [on the back]. It changed the time. When I was really young, the two best footballers were Ronaldo and Messi. When I was growing up, Neymar. After that, it was Eden Hazard. My dream was to become a football player and play for one of the biggest teams in the world. But when you're actually doing it, it's completely different."

The Red Devils paid £65 million to sign Mbuemo from Brentford, with the winger penning a 5-year contract. Tottenahm were also interested in signing him, but he opted against the reunion with Thomas Frank.

Manchester United legend picked Lionel Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney named Lionel Messi as his 'GOAT' over former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. He was on the Pardon My Take podcast in 2024, he said (via BolaVIP):

“Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi? Messi. I’ve said it before: the two of them are probably the best two players to have played the game, but I just think Messi is, in my eyes, the greatest of all time."

Wayne Rooney played 205 matches with Cristiano Ronaldo before the Portuguese superstar left for Real Madrid in 2009. The Englishman faced Lionel Messi three times in his career, losing twice and drawing the other.