Ryan Giggs says ‘unplayable’ youngster who was better than Cristiano Ronaldo skinned him when they first met

Ryan Giggs has spoken out about one unplayable Manchester United youngster who was even better than Cristiano Ronaldo.

Across Manchester United’s storied history, Old Trafford has been home to some of the best young players ever to come to the Premier League.

The likes of David Beckham, George Best and Sir Bobby Charlton all came through the United academy while others like Ronaldo joined the club early in their professional careers.

But there is one player who Giggs thinks stands out against the rest of them as perhaps the greatest youngster in United’s history, and he skinned the Welshman when they first faced each other.

United legend Giggs recently appears on an episode of Rio Ferdinand Meets to speak with his former teammate his career for both United and the Welsh national side.

As Giggs played alongside some of the best players in recent Premier League history, Ferdinand decided to ask his former teammate which of Gareth Bale, Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney impressed him the most at the start of their careers, and Giggs had no doubt.

“That’s a front three that,” Giggs joked.

“Gareth and Cristiano started off and they had a bit of work to do whereas Wayne came and he was more or less the finished article.”

The 51-year-old then recalled the first time he ever met Rooney during his early days at Everton, admitting that he completely underestimated the then teenage wonderkid.

Giggs confessed: “I remember Wayne coming on at Old Trafford at right wing and I’m left wing and he’s a bit big, but he just went past me, and I just went ‘Ohhh’

“When he was at it, he was unplayable, Shrugging people off, closing people down, just evert type of goal. Hungry, angry, just an amazing player.”

Wayne Rooney joined Manchester United in 2004. (Image: Getty)

After just two years playing for Everton, United decided that they had seen enough of Rooney to know he was special and signed him in 2004 on a five-year contract reportedly valued at £50,000 per week, making it the most lucrative deal ever offered by the club at the time.

Rooney went on to establish himself as perhaps the best player in United’s history, making 559 appearances and scoring 253 goals and captaining the side from 2014 until he left to rejoin Everton in 2017.