Wayne Rooney joked that one of his most illustrious teammates holds an unofficial Premier League record that he won’t want to keep.
Rooney is Manchester United’s all-time top goal scorer and won 16 major trophies during his time at Old Trafford. He is currently third on the Premier League’s all-time scorer list and fourth on the assists list.
Top of that assists list is Ryan Giggs, who is third to only James Milner and Gareth Barry for total appearances in the Premier League.
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Rooney and Giggs shared 278 appearances together in all competitions as they were part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s incredible team that dominated the early 2000s.
Wayne Rooney jokes Ryan Giggs lost the ball more than anybody else, before explaining why that was so important
Speaking to another former teammate Rio Ferdinand, Rooney explained how Giggs was only one of two players who would prompt him to run into space, knowing he would receive the ball.
“There were two players, and not even [Paul] Scholesy was one of them,” Rooney told Ferdinand. Two players who when they got the ball, I ran, Giggsy and [Michael] Carrick.
“Giggsy gave the ball away more than any other player in Premier League history, but he kept doing it and the next thing he’d put you in and you’d score a goal.”
Even if Giggs did continue to lose the ball, his 162 assists remain unbeaten in the competition. Kevin De Bruyne is closest with 119 prior to his Manchester City departure this summer, with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah the closest of any active player at 89.
Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs record stands out but Cristiano Ronaldo partnership got more goals
Of all his teammates, Rooney played more games with Carrick than anyone else, but they only shared three goals and assists between them.
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Whereas when Rooney played with Giggs across their 278 games, they shared 23 joint goal participations. Only with Cristiano Ronaldo did Rooney share more goals (27), showing the value of Rooney always making those runs forward.
Rooney also shared 23 goals with Nani, but in almost half the shared appearances (155) than with Giggs. He also fit in an impressive 14 joint goal participations with Robin Van Persie in just 73 games.
And while Rooney talked up Scholes’ ability, they only combined for eight goals across 242 appearances, backing up Rooney’s comments.