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Zlatan Ibrahimovic has revealed his admiration for Wayne Rooney admitting: "If I cannot play with him, I will still watch him".

The Paris Saint-Germain superstar has never taken the field alongside the England captain in his career but admits he has admired Rooney's longevity and ability to maintain his level at the very top of the game for so long from afar.

Speaking to a BBC documentary, Wayne Rooney - The Man Behind The Goals , he said: "These great players, they have their moments over one to three years.

READ MORE: 11 things we learned from the documentary

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"But to continue over five years, for ten years the way Wayne Rooney has done is not easy. It's pressure everyday playing for a big team."

Perhaps Rooney's most successful period with Manchester United was in 2006/07 when he combined with Cristiano Ronaldo to devastating effect scoring 46 goals between them as United won the Premier League for the first time in four years.

And despite Ronaldo hogging most of the headlines during that glittering period Ibrahimovic feels it's Rooney who deserves most of the credit.

READ MORE: Rooney did NOT hand in a transfer request at United

(Image: Getty)

"He runs a lot, he fights a lot, he sacrifices a lot," he added.

"When he played with Cristiano Ronaldo all the work was done by Wayne Rooney but he didn't get the credit because Ronaldo was scoring all of the goals.

"I'd prefer to have him in my team than play against him. I've not been lucky enough to play with him but I enjoy seeing him on the pitch - if I cannot play with him, I will watch him.