Gary Neville names his 'number one' Man Utd centre forward of all time, claims he was hugely underrated

Gary Neville has named his favourite Manchester United centre-forward of all time.

Some of the greatest marksmen in history have represented United over the years, including Ruud van Nistelrooy, Andy Cole and Mark Hughes.

But speaking on the Rest is Football YouTube channel, Neville revealed that there is one player he ranks above the rest - his former team-mate Wayne Rooney.

Rooney is United’s all-time leading scorer (253) and the only player to have scored 250 goals for the Reds.

Nevertheless, Neville explained that he thought his former team-mate was underrated by the wider football community. You can watch the clip below.

The ex-United captain explained: “You get asked sometimes about the most underrated player and Wayne [Rooney] is up there.

“He’s not normally in conversation about the best Manchester United players but whenever I get asked about my best United 11, he’s always my number one centre-forward.

“He’s the best by a mile, in terms of goals, effort, and assists.”

Neville was responding to golfer Rory McIlroy heaping praise on Rooney.

When speaking of his favourite footballer growing up, McIlroy said: “It was David Beckham for a good part of It, but I loved Wayne Rooney.

“I still have season tickets at Manchester United and I loved going there and just watching Wayne because he worked so hard and ran everywhere, you felt exhausted after watching him for 90 minutes.

“To be that good but to also have that work ethic, to me he looked like he loved football, and I loved watching him play.”

Rooney burst onto the scene at Everton before signing for United in 2004, the same year he starred for England at the European Championships and won the Golden Boy award.

He fulfilled his early promise, making 559 appearances for the Old Trafford club during his 13-year spell and becoming United and England’s record goalscorer. He was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2022.