Sir Bobby Charlton has said that he is "delighted" to see Wayne Rooney break his record to become Manchester United's all-time leading goalscorer.
The 31-year-old came off the bench to rescue a point during his side's draw at Stoke City this afternoon, claiming his 250th goal in a United shirt to smash a record that had stood for 43 years.
"It's over 40 years since I scored the last of my 249 goals for Manchester United, so I must admit that I have become used to the honour of being the club's all-time top goalscorer!" Charlton told the official United website.
"We have had some incredible strikers here at Old Trafford and they have scored a lot of goals, but it has been fairly obvious for a while now that Wayne Rooney was going to be the one likeliest to break my record, and now that day has come, I would be lying to say that I'm not disappointed to have lost the record. However, I can honestly say that I'm delighted for Wayne. He deserves his place in the history books.
"He is a true great for club and country, and it is fitting that he is now the highest goalscorer for both United and England. It has been great to watch him every week since his arrival at Old Trafford in 2004; he set the tone with a wonderful hat-trick on his debut and he has thrilled us all in the years since, going on to enjoy a hugely successful career.
"I was 35 when I retired. Wayne is only 31 and still going strong, so I don't think he's done by a long stretch yet. He continues to show that he can contribute goals, assists and performances whenever called upon, he will raise the bar even further before he calls it a day. Now he's the man to beat, and I can't see anybody doing that for a long, long time."
Rooney previously surpassed Charlton's record to become England's all-time top scorer in September 2015.
Neil Wilkes
