Rooney reminds Fergie of Pele

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has compared Wayne Rooney to Brazilian legend Pele ahead of his club’s opening Champions League match.

United face Portuguese side Benfica in Lisbon on Wednesday in their European opener, and their manager believes his star striker can be compared to the man regarded by many as the world’s greatest ever player.

“If you look at Pele, for instance, he was a very aggressive attacker also who could look after himself – so can Rooney,” Ferguson said.

“They have similarities that way in terms of strength, speed, determination.”

Ferguson made the comparison after his Benfica counterpart Jorge Jesus said Rooney had elements of the South American style of play, but that assessment did not sit well with Ferguson.

“I disagree there, I think Wayne’s a typical British player,” Ferguson said.

“But there have been British players over the years who’ve had similar qualities that make them great players, whether it’s Paul Gascoigne, George Best, Bobby Charlton or Denis Law.”

“The similarities are that the boy has great courage, he wants to play all the time and he has incredible stamina. These are added extras to the talent he has.”

“Wayne has shown great maturity in his game, that’s what happens when you reach your mid-20s.”

“You get more authority in game, your timing becomes better and your understanding becomes better.”

Ferguson also backed Rooney to have his best goalscoring season after a flying start that has seen him net eight times in his first four Premier League games.

“I’m sure it’s a target for him,” he said.

“I don’t think that matters for him at the moment though. I’m sure he doesn’t go out at the start of the season thinking that way.”

“But as the season progresses like it did two years ago, when the target was to get over 30, he reached it very quickly and ended the season with 34 goals.”

“If that’s the target this season and he gets to that, then I’ll be absolutely delighted because with Chicharito’s (Javier Hernandez) ability to score, we could have two goalscorers above 25.”