London, Sep 14: Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has compared striker Wayne Rooney to Brazil legend Pele.

Ferguson made the comparison after Benfica manager Jorge Jesus claimed that Rooney had elements of the Brazilian and Argentine styles in his game.

"If you look at Pele, for instance, he was a very aggressive attacker also who could look after himself - so can Rooney," the Daily Mirror quoted Ferguson, as saying.

"They have similarities that way in terms of strength, speed, determination," he added.

Ferguson also reckons that the 25-year-old is on course for his best-ever goal haul.

Rooney has scored eight goals in United's first four Premier League games this season and is well on his way to breaking his personal best of 34 goals scored in 2009-10 season.

"I'm sure it's a target for him. I don't think that matters for him at the moment though. I'm sure he doesn't go out at the start of the season thinking that way. But as the season progresses like it did two years ago, when the target was to get over 30, he reached it very quickly and ended the season with 34 goals," the United manager said.

"If that's the target this season and he gets to that, then I'll be absolutely delighted because with Chicharito's ability to score, we could have two goalscorers above 25," he added. (ANI)