Sir Alex Ferguson was so determined to sign a teenage Wayne Rooney for Manchester United he came in for the striker twice.
That is what Everton boss David Moyes revealed on the latest episode of The Wayne Rooney Show, as he provided a behind-the-scenes insight into how Ferguson’s interest first came about.
Then 18, Rooney moved to the Red Devils in August 2004 in a deal that was worth £27m.
He had scored 15 goals in 67 Premier League appearances for the Toffees and had also been linked with Newcastle.
“I never wanted Wayne to leave,” said Moyes.
“The worst was the guy I had looked up to so much, Sir Alex Ferguson, phoned me and said he wanted to meet me at Haydock Thistle Hotel. I was wondering what was that he wanted.
“I got there and there was a room booked and he came in and said, ‘I want Rooney’. I said, ‘No, he is not for sale. No chance, I am not selling him’. He said, ‘OK, that’s fine but you are not letting him go to Chelsea or anywhere else?’ – and I said, ‘no chance’.
“He said that was fine and left it at that to be fair. He was very straight with me because I told him I didn’t want Wayne to go.”
However, Moyes revealed it was not long before Ferguson returned with another offer.
He added: “Three or four weeks later I get another call and Ferguson said, ‘I want to meet you are at the same place again because I want Wayne and things have moved on’.”
Rooney revealed Ferguson had accelerated his interest in signing him after his performance at Euro 2004.
The youngster shone for England, scoring four goals in four matches before a broken foot ended his tournament at the quarter-final stage, where the Three Lions lost to Portugal in a penalty shootout.
“Alex Ferguson wanted to wait a year,” said Rooney.
“He wanted to wait another year and then because I’d done so well at the Euros, it was just basically everyone was starting to get in ahead of the other one, then it became inevitable that I was gonna go that summer.”
