Wayne Rooney's return to form delights Manchester United team-mate Michael Carrick

The England striker scored twice in the Champions League this week

Wayne Rooney says there is no pecking order with his ‘great friend’ Robin van Persie (Getty Images)

Michael Carrick was delighted to see Wayne Rooney back on form after the striker scored his 200th goal for Manchester United on Tuesday night.

The England internatonal brought up the milestone as he netted twice in the 4-2 Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen to move into fourth-place on the list of the Red Devils' all-time top-scorers.

Rooney has had a tumultuous summer with Chelsea seeing two bids turned down to acquire his services while speculation also mounted surrounding a potential move abroad.

But the 27-year-old looked more than settled on Tuesday as United manager David Moyes won his first Champions League game at Old Trafford and Carrick was delighted to see the striker back to his best.

"It was probably Wayne's best performance that I've seen for a while," the midfielder told http://www.manutd.com.

"It's great to have him in that form - he can be untouchable when he's like that."

Rooney reached the landmark in just 406 games and now sits behind only Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and Jack Rowley in the club's list of top marksmen.

The achievement has brought the former Everton man many plaudits and former defender Viv Anderson, who made 69 appearances for United, believes he deserves to be regarded as one of the club's greats.

"He's a United great and his record says that, 200 goals is great," he told Press Association Sport at an event in Rotherham to promote Vauxhall's Youth Football Programme for which he is an ambassador.

"He is only 40-odd short of Bobby Charlton and Denis Law, so he has to be talked about like that.

"He has had his ups and downs with the supporters but when it comes to matters on the football pitch, he gives 100 per cent and I am personally pleased he is back on board.

"Some supporters will remember the events of the summer but a lot of them will think of him for what he does on the football field and the great goals he has scored over the years.

"There will be a minority who perhaps won't look upon him fondly, but I think the majority will still love him.

"We don't know whether he really wanted to leave or not, David Moyes came out from the word go and said, 'Wayne Rooney is not leaving the football club', and that turned out to be the case.

"He had to knuckle down and that's what he did. He got back in the team, he is scoring goals and looking like his old self when he first arrived.

"He looks back to his best."

Rooney's strike partner Robin van Persie was also on target on Tuesday night along with Antonio Valencia and, while neither of those two are likely to match the Liverpudlian's goalscoring feats at Old Trafford, Carrick is delighted to see them all fully firing.

"To have lads like that in your team is brilliant," he said.

"I thought Antonio was immense on Tuesday night as well and to have Wayne and Robin scoring and assisting is fantastic.

"Even if they're maybe not having the best of games they can always come up with something. I thought they played really well on Tuesday."

Meanwhile, United midfielder Jesse Lingard has joined Sky Bet Championship side Birmingham on a one-month loan deal.

The 20-year-old is regarded as one of United's most highly-regarded assets on the fringes of Moyes' first team.

Capped by England's Under-21 side last month, Lingard is yet to make his senior debut for United but spent two months on loan at Leicester last season, making five substitute appearances.

PA