Cristiano Ronaldo: "I miss playing with Wayne Rooney"

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has praised his former Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney and revealed that he misses playing alongside England's record goalscorer.

The attacking pair won three Premier League titles and a Champions League trophy in their six years together at Old Trafford before Ronaldo moved to Real for a then-world record fee of £80m in 2009.

The Portugal captain, who is just two goals behind Raul's all-time scoring record for Real, has admitted that he still admires Rooney before raising the possibility of playing alongside his old teammate again before his career is over.

"I miss playing with Rooney," he is quoted by The Sun as saying. "Maybe we will play together again one day.

"He was the kid of England, everyone loved him. He was so powerful I was calling him 'Pitbull.' The power of Wayne Rooney is his mentality and strength and he never stops.

"He is a fantastic team player and he scores. He is a fantastic boy and he helped me a lot when he came to join us in Manchester."

Rooney scored his first Premier League goal since April in United's 3-0 victory over Sunderland on Saturday.