Wayne Rooney makes shock Ronaldo & Pogba verdicts at Man United

The Red Devils’ all-time leading scorer believes his former teammates need to make way as part of a complete rebuild at the club.

Wayne Rooney believes a complete squad overhaul is needed at Manchester United, claiming the club need to go for ‘younger, hungry players’ to lift them out of their current slump.

The Derby County manager believes re-signing Ronaldo from Juventus last summer has not worked out.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is United’s top goalscorer this term with 18 goals in all competitions, but Rooney feels his best days are behind him. He suggested the club should move on in favor of bringing in younger talent.

“You’d have to say no at the minute,” Rooney said on Sky Sports when asked if his former teammate’s return has worked out.

“He’s scored goals, important goals in the Champions League early on in the season. He scored obviously the hat-trick against Tottenham. But I think if you’re looking to the future of the club, you have to go with younger, hungry players to lift Manchester United over these next two or three years.

“Obviously, Cristiano is getting on a bit. He certainly isn’t the player he was in his 20s and that happens — that’s football. He’s a goal threat, but the rest of the game they need more and they need young, hungry players.”

🗣 "He's a goal threat but the rest of the game they need more, they need young hungry players."

Wayne Rooney doesn't feel that signing Cristiano Ronaldo has worked out for Manchester United pic.twitter.com/fElNwiYEh1

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) April 4, 2022

‘Now’s the time for Pogba to move on’

Rooney also claimed Paul Pogba should move on when his contract expires at the end of the season.

“It’s probably got to a point now where it probably is better to move on,” the ex-striker said.

“And I think if Paul is honest with himself, he probably hasn’t had the impact he would have liked since he returned to Manchester United.

“I watch him play for France and it’s a completely different player. It just hasn’t quite worked for Manchester United for him and I think there are a few players they need to let go.”

Rooney also named PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino as his pick to become the club’s next manager because of his Premier League experience at Tottenham.

Ronaldo and Pogba hope to feature next Saturday when Manchester United visit Everton in the Premier League. The Red Devils are priced at 1.75 to win with Bet365 at the time of writing. This suggests they have a 57% chance of victory.