Wayne Rooney had already established himself as one of English football’s hottest properties two years prior, having burst onto the scene as a precociously brilliant 16-year-old with childhood club Everton.
Rooney, then just 18, would go on to be one of the stars of Euro 2004, scoring four goals on his way to the quarter-finals, only to have his tournament – and England’s prospects of victory – cut short when he broke his metatarsal against Portugal.
Later that summer, he became the world’s most expensive teenager when he signed with Sir Alex Ferguson’s all-conquering Manchester United side, kicking off a 13-year association with the Old Trafford club that saw him become the club’s all-time leading goal scorer with 253 strikes.
Everton fans were outraged by Rooney’s move down the East Lancashire road, as they felt betrayed by a boy who famously declared “Once a Blue, Always a Blue.” Speaking to former boxer and fellow Evertonian Tony Bellew, Rooney revealed he was “heartbroken” after learning he was being “touted” to other clubs.
Chelsea, backed by Roman Abramovich’s billions, were keen to sign him and were willing to pay more than United, while Newcastle also proposed, but Rooney stated he was determined to control his fate and submitted a transfer request to force a move to Manchester.
During a podcast with the former heavyweight champion, he said that “I knew before Euro 2004 that I was getting touted around to other teams because Everton needed the money.”
“Certain people, other individuals, we’re going into clubs saying ‘would you take Wayne Rooney for £30m?’. I was heartbroken, I wanted to play for Everton. But once I found out I was just devastated. I would’ve left at some point to better myself and win trophies but I was devastated. So, I thought you know what, okay.”
“I was getting pushed to go to Chelsea because Chelsea was offering the most money. But I said you’re not dictating where I go. I want to go to Manchester United. So it was less money for Everton but that’s where I wanted to play. I didn’t want to go to London, to Chelsea, so I took some control back.”
“I got told the only way you’re going to Manchester United is if you hand in a transfer request. So I went into the canteen and I wrote ‘I, Wayne Rooney, request a transfer from Everton Football Club’ on a napkin or something. I went back into [David] Moyes’ office and said there you go.”
“I felt I got backed into a corner to a certain extent, but that’s football.”
“I went to Barbados and when I came back to Bellefield at the time I was ready to go out and start running after my broken foot,” he said. “I got told ‘No you can’t do that,’ and when I asked why they said, ‘because if your foot breaks down again we won’t be able to sell you’. They wouldn’t let me do my rehab in case my foot broke down again and they couldn’t get the money for me.”
“There’s loads of stuff like that but it worked out well in the end.”
Rooney spent time on vacation in Barbados after fracturing his foot at the Euros, then returned to Everton to continue his treatment, only to be told that the club couldn’t risk his foot – and hence the transfer – breaking down. Of course, Rooney returned to Everton in 2017, playing a year at Goodison Park before finishing his career in the MLS and the English Championship.
