WAYNE ROONEY HAS echoed Robin van Persie’s comments and insisted the duo can form a lethal long-term partnership for Manchester United.

Van Persie hailed the England international’s performance in United’s 4 — 2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, admitting he loved playing alongside the striker.

Rooney scored twice — and Van Persie once — in the win over Sami Hyypia’s side to take the former Everton forward to 200 goals for United. The 27-year-old is keen to keep adding to that tally and believes his partnership with the Dutchman will flourish.

“Robin and me are friends off the pitch,” he said. “There is no problem between me and Robin at all. We are great friends and we want to help each other and be successful.

The manager has made it clear that he wants one up and one behind and, whatever way round that is, it doesn’t matter to me as long as one is always filling in behind and helping out the midfield. We have done the work together and the times we played together last season we did well so, hopefully, we can play more together this season and do well.”

“We dovetail well and try to help each other score goals,” he added. Hopefully they dovetail better than this miscommunication against Leverkusen:

The pair are likely to join forces again on Sunday as United face local rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League.

City defender Vincent Kompany, who came through his comeback game against Viktotia Plzen, confirmed he should be fit to face the champions on Sunday. The Belgian insisted, “You want to play against top players at their best,” he said. “That’s how I feel about it. I always want to play against players when they are at their best

“I’m really happy for Wayne that he’s on top form. This is the great thing about the Premier League, you play against top strikers all the time, but there are many players to watch out for in both teams.”

Both United and City have changed managers since they last met in the Premier League in April.  City captain Kompany added: “It’s a different team, it’s a different season and I would say there has never been anything too predictable in the derby. It’s always a game you look forward to. I don’t think it’s just the people in Manchester but all over the world who look forward to enjoying it.

“It’s a game that attracts a lot of attention. I never take it for granted and I feel blessed that I am able to participate in those games. You do your best to make sure you play well in these games.”