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Who Wayne Rooney once named when asked who was the toughest defender he ever came up against

Srinivas Sadhanand

Thu 20 March 2025 17:45, UK Updated Thu 20 March 2025 19:09, UK

During his time at Manchester United in particular, Wayne Rooney was a menace for any defender to play against.

Simply put, the former Everton centre-forward had it all — an eye for goal, a knack for shooting with pinpoint precision from distance, quick feet and fire in his belly to win at all times. Wayne Rooney was a s🃏treet footballer in the purest sense of the word, which made him such a tricky customer to come up against due to his off-the-cuff approach to the game, which made him fearless and unpredictable.

More impressively, Rooney played during an era where the centre-backs were some of the centre-backs went on to become all-time greats, namely the likes of John Terry, Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique.

The Englishman has inspired generations of players due to how he used to dominate regardless, with Amad Diallo being a huge fan of Wayne Rooney’s as he named him as the best player to have ever played for Manchester United in t🐻he Premier Leaguꦑe.

While James Maddison hailed Wayne Rooney by going a step 𝔉further and claiming he is the gre👍atest player to have ever played in the English top-flight.

• READ MORE: Wayne Rooney names who he thi🌠nks is the best finisher in the his💟tory of football

Wayne Rooney named John Terry as his toughest opponent

In the Premier League, Rooney’s b𒊎attles ﷽with the likes of John Terry and Vincent Kompany were fascinating to see.

Wayne Rooney locking horns with Terry in particular was a sight to behold, considering both players were arguably England’s best players in their res🐻pectiಞve positions at the time.

On some instances, the Manchester United legend stood out but the Chelsea great also ma💫naged to get the better of his Three Lions teammate.

Speaking to The Overlap in♒ May last year, Wayne Rooney named John Terry as the toughest defender he ever played against in his career, saying: “Probably say John Terry.”

“Yeah, I think he was…just beca♒use you would always think you could do him for pace, bu🗹t he put himself in good positions and he was obviously physically strong, good in the air. Yeah, I think John Terry was probably the most difficult.”

How many goals did Wayne Rooney score against John Terry?

The fact that Wayne Rooney did pick John Terry reiterates ho⭕w outstanding a centre-half he was.

Terry is♚ widely considered the best defender in Premier League history and endorsements from such legendary for♑wards emphasise why he holds such a unique status within English football.

Wayne Rooney and John Terry played against each o🐟thꦚer 19 times.

However, Rooney juꦜst scored four goals and two assists in total againstꦐ Terry.

It’s fair to say that the Champions 💝League-winning defender gave him a hard time but in fairness, he would perhaps give Wayne Rooney the same l🔥evel of mutual respect.