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Wayne Rooney never considered himself a natural goalscorer, but Manchester United and England\u2019s record-breaking striker believes he should have netted even more.<\/p>\nWayne Rooney never considered himself a natural goalscorer, but Manchester United and England\u2019s record-breaking striker believes he should have netted even more.<\/p>\n
Having burst onto the scene with Everton so astonishingly at 16, the forward earned a big-money move to Old Trafford in 2004 and went onto score 253 goals in 559 appearances during a medal-laden spell there.<\/p>\n
Rooney usurped Sir Bobby Charlton as United\u2019s all-time top scorer, just as he did in the England record books having netted 53 across 120 caps \u2013 not that he really considers himself to be a sharpshooter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to be honest \u2014 and this might surprise you \u2014 but I\u2019m not a natural goalscorer,\u201d the 34-year-old wrote in his Sunday Times column.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was never a Gary Lineker or a Ruud van Nistelrooy; I never looked at myself that way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hold the goal records for Manchester United and England and am very proud about that \u2014 yet there have been better No 9s than me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rooney believes Harry Kane is the closest he has seen to Van Nistelrooy and said \u201cif I were building a team, he\u2019s the one I\u2019d start with\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Derby player-coach said he would be telling the striker \u201cto stay high as that No 9\u201d after seeing him drop deeper in the last two seasons and backed the Tottenham star to soon supplant him in the England charts.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did I become a record-breaker if I wasn\u2019t a natural scorer? Time,\u201d Rooney said. \u201cI played for United for 13 years, England for 15 years. I had time to break those records \u2013 and looking back I should have scored more.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it will take long for Harry Kane to claim my England record and it would be a proud moment for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been a selfish player and it would be great for England for Harry to get there. Bobby Charlton had to wait 50 years \u2014 I hope it\u2019s not so long for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United record might last longer simply because players don\u2019t stay at clubs as long as they used to.<\/p>\n
\u201cMind you, if Messi or Ronaldo came to Old Trafford for a swansong they\u2019d probably break it in three or four years.\u201d<\/p>\n