Wayne Rooney has played alongside some truly world-class players during his career.
Indeed, Wayne Rooney worked alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov at Manchester United.
However, perhaps one of the most accomplished players Rooney ever played alongside was Angel Di Maria.
The World Cup winner has one of the greatest CVs in football history, winning all there is to win while being an absolute superstar along the way.
Rooney played alongside Di Maria back in the 2014/15 season, and now, he’s made an interesting claim about the Argentine and one Arsenal star.
Speaking to Thogden on TikTok, Rooney was playing a game of ‘start, bench or sell’, and he made an intriguing claim about Di Maria and Bukayo Saka.
Wayne Rooney picks Bukayo Saka over prime Angel Di Maria
Rooney was asked to pick between Bukayo Saka, Angel Di Maria and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – start one, bench one and sell one.
Di Maria is a fantastic player, while Kvaratskhelia has been immense for a while now.
However, Rooney picked Saka over both players.
Saka is a world-class player, but to pick him over someone like Di Maria who is a World Cup winner and a Champions League winner is a big call.
Bukayo Saka compared to Angel Di Maria
Saka is one of the best wingers in the world right now, but to compare him to Di Maria is a tad remiss when you consider what Di Maria has achieved during his incredible career.
Whether you like it or not, longevity and impact at the highest level plays a part here, and, on that metric, Di Maria wipes the floor with Saka.
| Bukayo Saka | Angel Di Maria | |
| 259 | Club games | 805 |
| 69 | Club goals | 194 |
| 70 | Club assists | 276 |
| 0.27 | Goals per game | 0.24 |
| 0.27 | Assists per game | 0.34 |
| 43 | International games | 145 |
| 12 | International goals | 31 |
| 0 | League titles | 7 |
| 0 | Champions League wins | 1 |
| 0 | World Cup wins | 1 |
Of course, there is another way to look at this.
Comparing players across leagues is sometimes unfair, but Di Maria and Saka have both played Premier League football, and their stats solely in the English top flight do tell a different story.
| Bukayo Saka this season | Angel Di Maria Premier League season at Man Utd | |
| 22 | Games | 27 |
| 6 | Goals | 3 |
| 11 | Assists | 10 |
| 0.27 | Goals per game | 0.11 |
| 0.5 | Assists per game | 0.37 |
Di Maria does have the greater legacy than Saka, but, at the peak of his powers, he couldn’t get close to doing what Saka is doing in the Premier League.
This is an interesting debate, and there are a number of ways to approach this argument, but it’s clear that Rooney would rather have Saka than Di Maria.
