Sir Alex Ferguson or Pep Guardiola? Ex-Man Utd star Wayne Rooney has his say on Premier League’s greatest

Wayne Rooney has given his verdict on who is the greatest Premier League manager: Pep Guardiola or Sir Alex Ferguson.

No managers have won more titles than the duo, with Ferguson on 13 from his 21 years, while Guardiola has six in seven years at Manchester City. The 2023/24 title saw Guardiola also move up to joint-second in terms of overall top-flight league triumphs, while he claimed a fourth consecutive title - something no one else in English football has achieved.

Guardiola’s successes stretch further than the Premier League, though. He has finished first in 12 of his 15 years as a manager, including his spells in charge of Bayern Munich and Barcelona, while he won two Champions League and a treble with the latter.

But Ferguson has also experienced success outside England and led Aberdeen to Cup Winners’ Cup success in 1983, beating Real Madrid in the final.

It’s for that reason that Rooney, who earlier this year claimed he’d ‘walk’ to the Etihad if Guardiola asked him to be an assistant, feels his former Manchester United manager has the edge.

"I think of course there are going to be arguments as to who is better, but I think people tend to just look at what Sir Alex did at Manchester United, and what he did at Aberdeen was incredible," Rooney told ESPN.

"And you'd ask the question: Could Guardiola do that at a team like Aberdeen? There are questions, there's debate, I think Guardiola for his era is of course the best and he's changed the way football is played worldwide... but yeah for me Sir Alex, what he achieved in the game is incredible.”

Rooney himself has begun his managerial and had mixed fortunes at Derby County, DC United and Birmingham City. This summer he was appointed Plymouth Argyle manager.