Rooney responds to Michael Owen's 'best at 17' claim, praises former team-mate

Wayne Rooney has responded to Michael Owen's recent claim that he was the better player at age 17, saying the two forwards were "completely different footballers" and praising Owen's career while declining to make a direct comparison.

The exchange began after Owen, who is six years older than Rooney, said on Rio Ferdinand's podcast that the only player in England who could be compared with him as a teenager was Rooney. The debate gained traction when BBC Match of the Day's X account asked followers who was better at 17: Owen or Rooney. Owen replied on the post, asserting his case with a series of early‑career statistics.

On the latest episode of The Wayne Rooney Show, Rooney said he understood Owen's position and would back himself in a similar situation, but stressed their differing styles. "Michael and I are very different players," Rooney said. "I completely understand what he's saying. But we're two completely different footballers — different styles, different techniques. Michael Owen, for a three or four‑year period, was probably the best centre forward in the world." He added that he had once "pretended to be Michael Owen on the street" when he was a child, even though Owen played for Liverpool.

Owen backed his argument with early statistics. He wrote that at 17 he scored 18 Premier League goals and won the Golden Boot while Rooney scored six; at 18 he scored another 18 league goals, again winning the Golden Boot and finishing fourth in the Ballon d'Or voting, while Rooney scored nine. Owen also noted that in their opening seven seasons he outscored Rooney 117 to 80, and that injuries later hindered his progression.

Rooney did not dispute Owen's figures, saying "his comments are fair" and acknowledging that injuries curtailed Owen's career. He suggested that his own ability to adapt his game — playing from wider positions or deeper in midfield later in his career — helped sustain a longer peak. "Unfortunately, he did get his injuries and he probably couldn't adapt his game maybe as well as I could in playing from the side or going back into midfield," Rooney said.

The debate focuses on teenage form rather than career totals. As teenagers, the two men made immediate impressions. Owen scored twice for England at the 1998 World Cup, including a notable solo goal against Argentina, and won two Premier League Golden Boots before turning 20. Rooney burst onto the scene at Everton as a teenager with a long‑range winner against Arsenal in October 2002, which at the time made him the Premier League's youngest goalscorer, and scored nine goals for England before turning 18, including four at Euro 2004.

Their subsequent careers diverged. Rooney played considerably longer at the top level, scoring 313 club goals in 763 games for Everton, Manchester United, D.C. United and Derby County, and became Manchester United's all‑time leading scorer with 253 goals. He won the Champions League and five Premier League titles, and spent time as England's top scorer with 53 goals before that mark was passed.

Owen's career produced 222 club goals in 482 appearances before he retired at 32. He won the Ballon d'Or as a 22‑year‑old while at Liverpool and had spells with Real Madrid, Newcastle, Manchester United and Stoke City. Persistent injuries, however, limited his later output and his last of 40 England goals came at age 27.

The two forwards also shared team‑mate time. They played together 52 times: 25 for England and 27 for Manchester United after Owen joined United later in his career. Rooney described it as an "honour" to play alongside Owen and said the two "probably didn't get the best out of each other" when paired, noting that Owen had provided him with more assists in their partnership than the other way around.

Rooney also defended Owen's character, saying he is "one of the funniest people you'll meet" and pushing back against perceptions of Owen as remote or boring. The exchange has continued to draw attention on social media, with debate focusing narrowly on who was the more accomplished teenager rather than on the two players' overall careers.

Rooney's comments were made on The Wayne Rooney Show, available on BBC Sounds.