Wayne Rooney will always be revered by Manchester United fans - and now he's revealed what drove him to join the club back in 2004.
The star duly spent the next 13 seasons at Old Trafford, eventually stepping away with a record breaking 253 goals to his name. During that trophy-laden time he helped the side to five Premier League titles, three League Cups, the Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup, and World Club Championship.
Rooney, 37, is now based in America in his role of manager of DC United, and was recently included in the CBS Sports Golazo 'Mount Rushmore' of icons of the Red Devils, alongside Sir Alex Ferguson, Bobby Charlton, and Paul Scholes.
The ex-England captain then appeared on the show on Thursday to give his own version, delivering a slightly different verdict. "Sir Alex of course will be on there," he said. "I think Cristiano Ronaldo would be on there. Ryan Giggs, and probably George Best."
But he duly focussed on one of those names in particular when recalling his pre-United days, that of the man who paid £25million for his services some 19 years ago. "Growing up the whole reason I signed for Manchester United was because I really wanted to play for Alex Ferguson," he added.
"Just (because of) the way he worked, and how successful he was. Of course they've had great players throughout the years. and it's a really historic club. Me being from Liverpool and an Evertonian, I always had an eye on Sir Alex Ferguson and just hoped that one day I could play under him. Thankfully I did and it was a huge honour for me."
Rooney famously fell out with Ferguson while the pair worked together, but just when the striker seemed to be heading out of the club, they patched up their differences ahead of the title winning 2012/13 campaign, the Scotsman's last season in charge.
The inclusion of Ronaldo will also raise eyebrows, after the Portuguese star was lambasted by his former teammate last year over his behaviour amid his acrimonious exit. But decades from now, there could be another Rooney in the frame, after Wayne's eldest son Kai got fans buzzing with excitement this month.
Kai has been playing in the club’s academy since signing for United back in December 2020. Like his dad, he plays as a striker and has caught the eye with his goalscoring exploits en route to helping his side win the Under-13s National Cup North trophy this year.
