He was the boss from age of 16
FERGIE FAITH PROVED SPOT-ON
HE WAS the assassin-faced baby who became a legend with his goalscoring exploits.
Wayne Rooney, recordbreaker for club and country, has officially called time on his playing career after being appointed Derby manager on a permanent basis.
After announcing himself aged 16 with a stunning goal for Everton against Arsenal in 2002, Rooney became an international star at Euro 2004, which led to his move to Manchester United.
Sir Alex Ferguson was not one for putting extra pressure on players, but even he could not contain his excitement, describing Rooney as the most talented English player since Paul Gascoigne.
The United manager later admitted there were “plenty of eyebrows raised” at Old Trafford when he asked the club to sanction the £27million deal that made Rooney the most expensive teenager in world football.
Rooney had to wait four weeks to make his debut, as he continued his recovery from the broken foot which had ended his involvement in Euro 2004.
But Ferguson’s judgment was vindicated, Rooney scoring a hat-trick in a win against Fenerbahce.
Rooney went on to become United’s all-time leading scorer, eclipsing Sir Bobby Charlton’s 44-year record. He scooped every honour at United.
Yet Rooney’s United career was not without controversy. He threatened to leave in 2010, citing the club’s perceived lack of ambition, only to be rewarded with a lucrative new deal days later.
He was dropped, along with Jonny Evans and Darron Gibson, for the 2011 New Year’s Eve visit of Blackburn, a game United lost 3-2, after turning up for training the worse for wear following a boozy night out.
It proved a costly defeat, United ultimately losing the title on goal difference to Manchester City on the final day. There were off-field skirmishes, but rarely did Rooney not deliver on the pitch.
As well as replacing Charlton as United’s record goalscorer, Rooney also overtook him as England’s leading marksman.
After going back to Everton for one season, Rooney spent two years with DC United in the US, before returning to England with Derby, initially as a player.
West Ham boss David Moyes, who managed Rooney at Everton and United, said: “I saw the news and it makes me feel very old.
“When you think he was 16 when I gave him his debut, I think to myself ‘where have all the years gone?’”
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the original baby-faced assassin, wished him luck.
“I think he’s got everything going for him to be a good manager,” said Solskjaer. “He’s had a very good career, he’s got a good personality and he wants to succeed.”