Wayne Rooney settles the Sir Alex Ferguson vs Pep Guardiola GOAT debate once and for all

Wayne Rooney has explained why Sir Alex Ferguson has the edge over Pep Guardiola when it comes to the 'greatest of all time' debate.

Having left such a lasting legacy on our game, both Ferguson and Guardiola will go down in history.

One lifted three Scottish Premier Division titles and a European Cup Winners’ Cup with Aberdeen before delivering an unprecedented 13 league trophies at serial-winners Manchester United.

The other has dominated European football for more than a decade, achieving success with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, who recently lifted their fourth-successive Premier League title.

So who comes out on top? Rooney believes his former manager pips Guardiola to the post for one simple reason – his exploits with Aberdeen between 1978 and 1986.

Guardiola has masterminded his way to the top by working alongside some of the world's best players, including Lionel Messi, but questions have been raised over whether he could manage a team without such qualities.

"I think of course there are going to be arguments as to who is better, but I think people tend to just look at what Sir Alex did at Manchester United, and what he did at Aberdeen was incredible," Rooney told ESPN Brasil.

"And you'd ask the question, could Guardiola do that at a team like Aberdeen? There's questions, there's debate, I think Guardiola for his era is of course the best and he's changed the way football is played worldwide.

"But yeah for me Sir Alex, what he achieved in the game is incredible."

Image credit: Getty

Rooney has heaped praise on Ferguson in the past, and rightly so. But United's all-time top goalscorer mentioned Louis van Gaal as "tactically the best" manager he worked under.

“I remember Louis van Gaal when he came in – I thought tactically he was the best I’ve worked with," Rooney said on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.

"It was the stuff off the pitch that was difficult for the players in how he worked, but I remember him coming in and saying he wants his centre forward to have 15, 20 touches a game – that’s exactly what [Erling] Haaland does.

Rooney added: "I always wanted to play and enjoy the game – and score goals.”