Wayne Rooney claims he played with £17m Man United midfielder faster than Cristiano Ronaldo

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Wayne Rooney admits Owen Hargreaves was faster than Cristiano Ronaldo for Manchester United – but why would Rio Ferdinand have a problem with that?

The speed demon that was Cristiano Ronaldo was electric at Manchester United, but many fans forget the pace a young Wayne Rooney also possessed.

But back in the days of Sir Alex Ferguson, there was a player not entirely noted for his speed in Owen Hargreaves.

That said, he was extremely quick before the injuries took their toll.

Wayne Rooney says Owen Hargreaves was faster than Cristiano Ronaldo

Speaking to the BBC, Rooney was asked who was quicker out of himself and Ronaldo, to which Rooney gave a clear answer.

He said: “We’ve done tests over 30 yards, I think it was. And I was topping in that. Owen Hargreaves was actually second.

“Yeah, Owen was quicker than people think. So yeah, I was faster than that. But there are all different aspects in football.”

Signed by United for £17m, Hargreaves’ career was obviously blighted by numerous injuries, and his legacy has been somewhat tarnished by that.

That said, it’s not just Rooney who knows about the pace Hargreaves possessed.

Rio Ferdinand claims Owen Hargreaves was faster than Wayne Rooney

Rio Ferdinand may have something to say about Rooney’s recent comments – and that’s because the former Manchester United defender previously claimed that Hargreaves was actually even quicker than Rooney himself in those same tests.

Ferdinand said on Rio Ferdinand Presents in 2024:

“He came into the training ground when he signed, and we did testing, and he blew everyone out of the water.

“He blew everyone away; we used to do like 10 yards, 20 yards, and he won every race. Wayne Rooney used to go to the guy, ‘Who’s playing with the machine? Owen can’t be the fastest!’”

So who to believe? Well, no better person to hear it from than Hargreaves himself.

What does Owen Hargreaves say?

He acknowledged in May 2025 that he was “probably” the quickest player at United.

He said: “I was never the same again after that. And I was 27. And bear in mind, I was probably the quickest, probably had the best endurance.

“That’s why I played at that level. I didn’t realise that until they did all the testing. But that was part of my skillset – that I was so explosive. And probably a lot of that contributed to the injury, you know, being so explosive.

“And I didn’t know that. I just played on instinct, right? So once people started to tell me, ‘Oh, you’re the quickest,’ we’d do the sprint test, and I’d win.

“And endurance-wise, when I went into a game, even though I was tired, I knew I could push myself more than anybody else.”

Debate settled. Ferdinand may have to give Rooney a call after his recent claim!