Former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney chimed in the never-ending debate of Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo — one sparked by the recent Messi departure from Barcelona.

The longtime scorer and playmaker still remembers that 2011 run to the UEFA Champions League final, where he and his teammates faced Lionel Messi at the start of his rise into football immortality.

“I know Messi is getting a bit older – I think he’s a year or two younger than me – but no one has ever seen a player like him,” Rooney told talkSPORT Breakfast. “That debate, Messi vs. Ronaldo… Messi just has everything; he can make goals, score goals, dictate games…

“He is one of the only players where I’ve just sat there and watched and been in awe. Obviously I played with Cristiano, and the two of them have set the standard which I don’t think will ever be seen again.

“But, for me, Messi is just on a different level.”

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Now that the Lionel Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo debate was settled by the Englishman, when it comes to Wayne Rooney's thought process on Messi's next destination he argued a move to MLS shouldn't even be part of the conversation just yet.

“The United States should not be in his mind at all, because he is miles too good for that level,” said Rooney. “He could come to the Premier League and win Player of the Year – one million percent. I don’t think he could do it for the next two or three years, but certainly for the next season, if he surrounds himself with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne or Bruno Fernandes, he can go and win his seventh Ballon d’Or.”

Lionel Messi's move to the Premier League is a highly anticipated one, considering he recently asked to opt-out of the last season of his deal with Barcelona. Wayne Rooney said a move to a Premier League giant like Manchester City or his own Manchester United could be the logical lateral phasing from La Liga, where Messi has made his legend for the past 20 years.