Wayne Rooney has revealed who he ranks as England’s greatest player of all time to a surprised Gary Neville.
With 53 goals and 120 appearances – tallies bettered by just two players – Rooney is certainly in the conversation as the best player to ever put on the Three Lions shirt.
Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore, World Cup winners in 1966, are widely considered two of the greatest players England have ever produced.
Then there are modern-day stars such as David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, who all earned over 100 caps to establish themselves as England greats despite failing to win any silverware at international level.
But Rooney has overlooked the aforementioned players and believes current Three Lions captain Harry Kane has surpassed them all over the last decade.
Kane became England’s all-time leading goalscorer in March 2023, breaking the record previously set by Rooney, and also remains Tottenham’s record goalscorer and the second-leading goalscorer in Premier League history.
The 30-year-old, who netted 44 goals in 45 games during his first season at Bayern Munich, captained England to the Euro 2020 final – where they were beaten on penalties by Italy – and was the Golden Boot winner at the 2018 World Cup.
Asked about Kane’s influence for England and his general ability ahead of this summer’s Euros, Rooney said on The Overlap: ‘I think he’s incredible.
‘You look at all the goals he’s scored and the assists he’s added over the last few years as well. For me, I would say he’s England’s greatest-ever player.’
Rooney made the claim to his former England and Manchester United team-mate Neville, who looked surprise before responding: ‘England’s greatest-ever player? That’s some statement, especially from you…’
Rooney then added: ‘I believe it. There’s never any issues with him. He never misses games, he’s ultra-professional. That’s a common theme with the best players.’
England begin their Euro 2024 campaign in less than three weeks, kick-starting the group stage against Serbia on June 16. Denmark and Slovenia are their other opponents in Group C.
Most of Gareth Southgate’s provisional 33-man squad linked up at St George’s Park on Wednesday ahead of England’s final two warm-up games before they travel to Germany for the Euros.
‘There are so many aspects to being with this group of people that I love,’ Southgate said this week, looking ahead to Euro 2024. ‘We have some really special people who bring brilliant energy to the group.
‘That’s what creates the environment that the players come into and can feed off. Ultimately we’re trying to form a team and a group that have got to push each other and be there for each other.
‘There’s a team dynamic that’s crucial to winning that we have to find. People will have slightly different roles that they will with their clubs.
‘At their club, all of these guys are pretty much first choice on the team sheet, so some have different roles in the next few weeks.
‘The challenge of winning the games and the excitement of seeing our fans out there in some of the biggest occasions in world football is why you’re in the game really. That’s what we’re looking forward to.’