![\"Wayne](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_JS393641934.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWayne Rooney claimed his 2008 Champions League-winning Manchester United side would ‘batter’ Arsenal’s current Premier League leaders<\/p>\n
Wayne Rooney gave a clear response to a question from Theo Walcott(Image: Chris Ricco – UEFA\/UEFA via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney<\/a> has confidently responded to former Arsenal star Theo Walcott’s question, believing that his 2008 United squad would ‘batter’ the current Gunners team. Arsenal currently lead the Premier League table by seven points and also topping the Champions League group, while United are in fifth place in the English top flight and 15 points adrift of the leaders.<\/p>\n Arsenal have been tipped to end their 20-year drought for a league title, and will face United in the Premier League<\/a> this weekend.<\/p>\n The Gunners are also among the favourites to lift the Champions League<\/a> trophy, having maintained an unbeaten record in Europe this season.<\/p>\n Arteta’s side are looking to end their wait for silverware this season and remain in contention for a quadruple.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Man United given clear Hayden Hackney transfer verdict ahead of potential Michael Carrick reunion<\/a>READ MORE: Man United transfer latest: Manuel Ugarte exit plan clear as update emerges on replacement<\/a><\/p>\n In contrast, Rooney’s 2007\/2008 United <\/a>team clinched the Premier League title, the Community Shield, and the Champions League.<\/p>\n FOLLOW OUR MAN UNITED FB PAGE! Latest news and analysis via the MEN\u2019s Manchester United Facebook page<\/a><\/p>\n Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> had a phenomenal season, netting 42 goals across all competitions, with 31 of those scored in the Premier League.<\/p>\n Walcott, a former Arsenal forward, conceded that Rooney’s United was the best team he’d ever faced, but he was curious about how they would fare against the current Arsenal side, reports the Mirror<\/a>.<\/p>\n Speaking on Amazon Prime<\/a>, Walcott asked: “It’s kind of flipped hasn’t it? Would your ’08 team compete – well you would compete with this team [Arsenal] – but how does it compare to your 2008 team which was probably the best team I have ever played against?<\/p>\n “This squad, compared to that one.”<\/p>\n Rooney gave a blunt response, where the United legend said: “Yeah, we’d batter them.”<\/p>\n The remark left Walcott visibly taken aback, laughing without an immediate comeback. This led to Rooney to added: “I think we would. I have to be honest.”<\/p>\n During that campaign, Rooney featured 39 times across all competitions for United, netting an impressive 18 goals throughout the season.<\/p>\n Here at The Manchester Evening News, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United<\/a> coverage and analysis.<\/p>\n Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here<\/a> to subscribe.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here<\/a> to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.<\/p>\n And, finally, if you would rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Manchester is Red podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify<\/a> and Apple Podcasts<\/a>, and you can also watch along on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wayne Rooney claimed his 2008 Champions League-winning Manchester United side would ‘batter’ Arsenal’s current Premier League leaders Wayne…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1111,218,1441,101,56,54,55,28552],"class_list":["post-381907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-arsenal-fc","tag-football","tag-manchester-united-fc","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wayne-rooney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381907","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=381907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}