{"id":272397,"date":"2025-11-19T22:24:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T22:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/272397\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T22:24:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T22:24:16","slug":"wayne-rooney-snubs-erling-haaland-for-arsenal-star-in-best-three-players-this-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/272397\/","title":{"rendered":"Wayne Rooney snubs Erling Haaland for Arsenal star in &#8216;best three players this season&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney was asked to pick his best three players in the Premier League so far this season<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_Wayne-Rooney-File-Photo.jpg\" alt=\"Wayne Rooney\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Wayne Rooney has been impressed by Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres(Image: PA)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">Wayne Rooney has picked Viktor Gyokeres &#8211; while snubbing Erling Haaland &#8211; as one of the best three players in the Premier League so far this season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">The England and <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/manchester-united\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Manchester United<\/a> legend was asked for his selections by Amazon Prime Video and he gave the Arsenal striker his backing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">Rooney said: &#8220;My top three are probably [Antoine] <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/arsenal-fc\/transfer-news\/antoine-semenyo-already-dropped-arsenal-32896918\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Semenyo<\/a>, I think he&#8217;s been brilliant for Bournemouth and carried on his form from last season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">&#8220;I&#8217;d also put Bryan Mbeumo in there, he&#8217;s been really good for Man United even after a difficult start to the season for the club. I think he&#8217;s been really good.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">&#8220;Third one, I&#8217;d probably go with <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/all-about\/viktor-gyokeres\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Viktor Gyokeres<\/a>. Arsenal have been crying out for a No.9 for a few years now, he&#8217;s come in and his work rate, determination and holdup play has been good and he&#8217;s scored a few goals as well. That&#8217;s my top three.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/arsenal-fc\/news\/arsenal-training-news-injuries-tottenham-32904872\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"32904872\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Five Arsenal stars pictured training before Tottenham clash including long-term absentee<\/a>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football.london\/arsenal-fc\/news\/gabriel-arsenal-injury-premier-league-32901246\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"32901246\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Gabriel injury update as Arsenal quick-fix &#8216;proof&#8217; means Mikel Arteta can rest easy<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">Gyokeres has mustered six goals in 14 appearances so far this term in all competitions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">Four of those strikes have come in the Premier League against Leeds (brace), Nottingham Forest and more recently, Burnley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">The Sweden international has been sidelined for the past few weeks with a muscle injury, sustained in the 2-0 win at Turf Moor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">Gyokeres was forced off at half-time and Arsenal had been optimistic he could yet return for Sunday&#8217;s North London Derby against Tottenham.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">However, the match could yet come too soon for the 27-year-old as club medical staff are reluctant to rush his recovery and risk the prospect of an unwanted setback.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_Burnley-v-Arsenal-Premier-League.jpg\" alt=\"Viktor Gyokeres during the Premier League match between Burnley and Arsenal at Turf Moor.\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Viktor Gyokeres has found the net four times in the Premier League so far this season(Image: David Price, Arsenal FC via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">The former Sporting CP attacker was recently awarded the Gerd Muller Trophy after rattling in 54 goals in 52 appearances for club and country during the 2024-25 campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">Rooney appears to appreciate Gyokeres&#8217; all-round game as opposed to his goalscoring exploits, which have been scrutinised since his return to England.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">Both Cherries ace Semenyo (six) and United marksman Mbeumo (five) have outscored Gyokeres so far this season in the top-flight, though no Arsenal player has found the net more times in the Premier League.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">It was a major surprise that Rooney did not include Haaland on his list given the Norwegian has already hit the back of the net 14 times for Manchester City.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">Gyokeres also hit a brace in the Champions League for Arsenal in the 4-0 demolition of Atletico Madrid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"footballlondon\">With Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz expected to return to action before the end of the year, the Swede will have a fight on his hands to keep hold of his starting spot.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761591371_355_2_GettyImages-1689259533.jpg\" alt=\"\"  \/>Join the football.london Arsenal WhatsApp channel<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Join our 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the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[9202,218,101,56,54,55,321,28552],"class_list":["post-272397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-erling-haaland","tag-football","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-viktor-gyokeres","tag-wayne-rooney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}