Tevez left United for Manchester City in the summer of 2009 and Rooney was heavily linked with a move to Eastlands over the summer.
Tevez said: “I would have liked him to come here of course. But it was complicated for him to leave United.
“Wayne is a player of great quality. He was a team-mate and a friend of mine at United and he is one of those men that it is better to have on your team than against you.
“For me he is the best English striker of recent years.
“I made the change and so far I’m not sorry.”
City face rivals Manchester United in the Premier League on Wednesday.
Tevez said: “We are in the top three and I think we are better than last season, we’re improving all the time.
“But we have to continue to fight over an entire season before we can gauge whether we are good enough to win the title.
“I think we can – but we have to continue winning.
“Our results have been good so far, but it is not perfect.
“To be champions you have to avoid losing at home and not give away too many draws.
“So on that front we are falling a bit short.
“But there is plenty of time to recover. The title race is wide open.”
