Giggs says Rooney's unselfish attitude reminds him of Ronaldo

Ryan Giggs sees shades of Cristiano Ronaldo in the way that Wayne Rooney has emerged as the heartbeat of Manchester United’s attack.

Rooney’s double in the Manchester derby took his total to four in United’s last two Premier League games. Before that, however, Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that the England striker was not scoring enough compared to his teammate Robin van Persie.

Although they are two different types of player, Giggs believes that Rooney’s unselfish attitude and willingness to create goals for his teammates reminds him of Ronaldo.

‘Wayne is the kind of player who can score goals, but if someone is scoring more he’s not too bothered,’ said Giggs.

‘He’s quite happy setting goals up and pitching in with important goals like he did on Sunday.

‘It’s like when Cristiano was here, he scored a lot of goals. It’s similar with Wayne, he’s not just an out and out goalscorer. He’s more than that. He’s the catalyst to everything good that we do.

‘He can score goals, make goals. It’s a massive plus for him to get the goals at City.’

Van Persie’s late winner at the Etihad Stadium made it 14 goals for United since they beat City to sign him for £24million from Arsenal in the summer.

And Giggs believes the Dutchman could make all the difference in United’s bid to reclaim the title from their neighbours.

‘He’s one that we are glad to have,’ he added. ‘He’s not surprised me because I knew that, at 29, he was a ready-made, experienced world-class player.

‘He just has that bit of class that can make a difference – like it did on Sunday and in other games.

'You see it in training, you see it in games, he’s just a brilliant player.

‘The way we performed at City should give us a boost. The squad is looking good. Nemanja Vidic is coming back, our captain. Everything is in place for the busy Christmas period.’