Becks salutes brilliant Rooney

David Beckham believes Wayne Rooney now ranks among the world's best players after the Manchester United striker crushed AC Milan.

Rooney's brace in the 4-0 thrashing of the Serie A side helped Sir Alex Ferguson's men to a memorable 7-2 aggregate success and ruined Beckham's Old Trafford homecoming seven years after his exit.

The England striker now has 30 goals for the season and is leading the Red Devils' charge for Premier League and European glory after already helping them to claim the Carling Cup.

And Beckham believes the 24-year-old fully deserves to be ranked in the same standing as Barcelona ace Lionel Messi and former Old Trafford favourite Cristiano Ronaldo.

The best

He told Sky Sports: "He is one of the best in the world at the moment, if not the best.

"Wayne will continue to play like that because he is a passionate player, he is a young player, he wants to learn.

"With Messi and Ronaldo he is up there with the best, if not at the top.

"He has always scared defenders, whoever he has played for. He has always been a worry for any defender and any team. Let's hope he continues that."

It was an emotional evening for Beckham, but one that started on the bench before he was introduced to the fray in the 64th minute, by which time the match was well beyond Milan.

The former England captain saluted the Old Trafford fans who gave him a standing ovation and the self-confessed Red Devils fan wants his former club to claim a third Champions League success of Ferguson's reign.

Unbelievable

He added: "It is always disappointing when you lose games, especially when they are as important as this, but we've come up against a great United side tonight.

"The thing that I will take is the reception I got from the fans, it was unbelievable.

"It meant a lot (coming back here). It's definitely up there as one of my best nights, obviously without the result. The atmosphere, the occasion and everything that the fans gave to me tonight was unbelievable.

"I hope they go all the way again. They deserve to, it is a great club, a great fan base and a great manager. They deserve to go all the way."