Pep Guardiola responds to Wayne Rooney’s Erling Haaland snub in Premier League ranking | OneFootball

Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola has issued a response to Wayne Rooney, who snubbed Erling Haaland from his top-three players of the current Premier League season so far.

The Manchester United legend caused a stir earlier this week after naming Antoine Semenyo, Viktor Gyökeres and Bryan Mbeumo as the division’s standout performers to this point – a list that notably excluded the Premier League’s most prolific goalscorer.

Haaland, who has continued his remarkable scoring form and recently fired Norway to their first World Cup in 28 years, has been widely regarded as one of the frontrunners for domestic awards once again, making Rooney’s omission an eyebrow-raising talking point.

Rooney’s comments arrive during a period in which Haaland has been extremely prominent both internationally and at club level. The 25-year-old recently went viral after revealing an x-rated on-pitch exchange with Italy’s Gianluca Mancini, while earlier in the week his praise for new City signing Rayan Cherki highlighted the strong chemistry developing inside Guardiola’s attacking unit.

With Manchester City targeting another title push after a challenging first half of last season, Erling Haaland’s form and influence remain central to the narrative. Guardiola, preparing his side for a run of important domestic fixtures, was inevitably asked about Rooney’s ranking during his latest press conference.

“He’s a [Manchester] United fan,” Guardiola said. Further pushed on whether he believes the former Old Trafford star is right in his thoughts, the Catalan tactician said, “Absolutely! It’s an opinion. You would choose another one, right? You would choose another one, are you right?

“It doesn’t matter. Wayne decided that, I’m more than fine, come on! It’s not a big issue, a big problem.”

Pep Guardiola’s relaxed response reflects his long-standing perspective on external opinions, which he has consistently downplayed throughout his tenure at the Etihad Stadium.

The City boss has reminded supporters and pundits that individual awards or rankings hold far less importance than collective performance – a message he reiterated last month when discussing Haaland’s increasing status as one of world football’s most influential players.

For Haaland, the striker continues to rack up goals across competitions and is expected to play a decisive role as City take on a hectic run of fixtures across the coming months. Supporters will also be intrigued to see how Haaland’s flourishing partnership with Cherki develops, among other attacking pairings in the club’s forward line.

As for Wayne Rooney’s rankings, should the Manchester City striker maintain his current trajectory, omitting him from any end-of-season lists may prove increasingly difficult – even for Manchester United’s iconic goalscorer.