Former Manchester United midfielder Ray Wilkins believes Wayne Rooney is more valuable to the Red Devils than Cristiano Ronaldo.
United accepted an £80million bid for Ronaldo from Real Madrid on Thursday, and many commentators have since suggested manager Sir Alex Ferguson will find it impossible to fill the void left by the Portuguese's probable exit.
However Wilkins, who spent five years at Old Trafford up to 1984, believes Rooney is the truly indispensable star in Ferguson's squad.
"If you were to ask who would you rather have, Rooney or Ronaldo? As an ex-footballer I'd rather have Wayne Rooney because he's more of a team player," said the Chelsea assistant manager.
"As football evolves, the team ethic is more important than the individual.
"Rooney has amazing ability but he's a team player and he's there week in, week out. I think he's a wonderful footballer."
Wilkins also expects the exit of the notoriously individualistic winger to have a galvanising effect on his former team-mates.
"It might bond the players a bit more," he told Sky Sports News.
"A lot of them relied on Cristiano to produce the goods - now it's up to the other players to pull their weight as well.
"I'm sure they will, they've got immense quality in that squad and Sir Alex will add to it."
On the subject of possible recruits, Wilkins believes Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery could be an ideal replacement for Ronaldo.
"Ribery's a very talented guy as well," he said. "There's lots of players out there who they can now afford.
"They've got a fantastic squad as it is and I'm sure the loss of Cristiano will be a slight loss, but nothing too drastic.
"Sir Alex is so astute in the market. He'll pick one or two, he won't go too mad, and it's a squad which only needs tweaking, not changing.
"I would have thought he'll leave the majority of that money in the bank."
source : football365.com
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