Hargo: Rooney can 'explode'

Owen Hargreaves has heaped praise on Wayne Rooney and predicted the striker will have a ‘massive’ 2008/09 season.

Hargreaves already believes his team-mate is England’s most talented player and warned the rest of the Premier League that the 22-year-old will only get better.

The Reds midfielder said: “This will be a massive season for Wayne. He could be one of the most influential players in the Premier League and I am looking forward to seeing him really explode.

“Ability-wise he is the best English player. It is very rare you get someone as good as that – he is exceptionally gifted. He is only 22 and it feels like he has been around for ever.

“Wayne has had a fabulous career already but he has so much more to offer. This season I am looking forward to him doing even better, scoring more goals and being even more effective.”

Rooney was frequently deployed in an unfamiliar wide role last term and his goal tally suffered as a result, although Hargreaves recognises the value of the frontman’s tireless contribution to United’s cause.

"It is a blessing and not a coincidence that we were so successful last season with Wayne and Carlos [Tevez] doing so much work up front,” Hargreaves continued.

“Wayne is so unselfish – he will do a job anywhere you ask him. He does a lot of work for the rest of the team, which other offensive players would not do.

"But he has so much ability to decide a game as well. The Aston Villa game in the FA Cup was probably the best example of that. He decided the game on his own in the space of 20 minutes. Not a lot of English players can do that.”