Wayne Rooney embroiled in new war of words with Cristiano Ronaldo after Virgil van Dijk spat

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I think he's an absolute genius and what he's doing is incredible."I love Cristiano and playing with him. I think just because I've said that I think Messi is better than Ronaldo, people think I don't like Cristiano."I absolutely love Messi, love watching him play and that was the only reason because I think Messi had a little bit more in terms of how he played and taking players on and whatever.

Ronaldo's a killer - and people think because I have said Messi is better than Ronaldo, I don't like him or speak down on him."This person might prefer Messi or Ronaldo, but no, I don't think you can argue with any of them two. But then I think people think; 'Oh, Wayne said Messi's better than Ronaldo'."I get asked it all the time.

And I just like the little flair about Messi and that's it."Cristiano is an absolute genius on what he's doing. I'm sure he would say he hasn't been at his best this season, if he's honest with himself.As captain, your job is to call meetings with your teammates and that was really what I was saying, as a leader, I'm sure he will have been doing that and I've got full respect for him."He's a fantastic player, but my job now as a pundit is to give my opinions on what I feel and I'm sure if you ask him or Arne Slot, he probably hasn't been as good as he has been over the last few years and that was my comment."Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content.