Former Manchester United man Rio Ferdinand once named a shocking club legend as his worst-ever teammate. The defender was fortunate enough to play with some of the very best in the business during his time at Old Trafford, including Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
On the other side of the coin, Ferdinand also bore witness to some of the worst signings in United’s history, with the likes of Bebe and Kleberson springing to mind. However, the 46-year-old revealed that it is a player who holds plenty of records at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ that he believes was the worst of them all.
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Ferdinand Names Wayne Rooney as Worst-Ever Teammate
The defender claimed that Rooney’s desire to win led to arguments
Speaking to legendary rugby star Rob Burrows on the Seven Meets podcast in 2023, Ferdinand surprisingly revealed that the man in question was in fact United’s all-time top goalscorer Wayne Rooney. While there was never a question about his talent, his former teammate claimed that Rooney’s desire to win led to several training ground bust-ups (per The Daily Mail):
“The worst team-mate I probably had the most arguments with Wayne Rooney, to be honest with you. Never came to blows, it was on the pitch. We never argued in training really, it was just match day, we probably argued once every two or three games, effing and blinding, screaming at each other because I wanted more from him.
“I knew what he was good at, and I knew he could do more. I’d want him to be more effective or something. The biggest thing for me with Wayne is he wanted to play 30 or 40-yard passes like Paul Scholes, and he could do it, he was that good. I wanted him to score 30 or 40 goals a season, because he could.”
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Ferdinand would go on to recount a discussion he had with the former England captain where he explained that he was unhappy with his role in the team, despite having had his most successful season in front of goal. This meant that Rooney was less involved in the overall game, which led to the striker asking to play more as a number 10. Despite labelling him as his ‘worst teammate’, it didn’t stop the iconic centre-half from placing Rooney in his all-time Premier League XI.
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