BS Detector: Wayne Rooney's phantom transfer request

Wayne Rooney has denied ever putting in a transfer request at Manchester United, despite persistent reports in both 2010 and 2013 that he had done exactly that.

Wayne Rooney is the subject of a new BBC documentary this week.

Titled 'Wayne Rooney: The Man Behind the Goals', the show will be broadcast on October 5, and will feature contributions from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham and Gary Neville.

We've yet to see a preview tape, but as ever with these things a number of choice snippets have been leaked out to build a bit of anticipation.

Don't get your hopes up. The Daily Mirror ran a piece showcasing "11 revelations" from the documentary. And what did we learn? That he likes having a wife and kids, enjoys karaoke, and that he wasn't fully fit for the 2006 World Cup having broken his foot six weeks before the tournament.

Nope. There are a few bits which might make you sit up: he is mildly critical of Fabio Capello's England regime, for example - though again, anyone who follows the progress of the England team would have surmised as much from any number of previous revelations.

Here's what Rooney says about it: "I never put in a transfer request. I don't know why it came out that way," he says.

Yup. "I don't think Wayne Rooney was keen to play," Ferguson said after not even having Rooney on the bench for the final game, "simply because he's asked for a transfer."

Indeed, and in a subsequent interview that day Ferguson repeated the news: "Wayne has asked for a transfer. I don't think he wanted to play today. I think that was a good thing."

Indeed. This is how Rooney sees it: "I went in to see him and just said, 'If you are not going to play me, it might be better for me to move on'. Then, all of a sudden, it was all over the press that I had put a transfer request in, which I never did. I don't know what happened and why that came out that way."

What, asking to be transferred, you mean? Rooney is presumably suggesting that since it was never put in writing via his agent that it didn't count. Ferguson is presumably suggesting that since Rooney said to his face that he wanted to leave, that constituted a request to leave.

Chuckle. No doubt.

Neither, and both. Both men were only serving their own interests with what they said, Rooney using a technical nicety to keep himself on the right side of United fans. But it's pretty flagrant how he's blamed the media. "It was all over the press that I had put a transfer request in, which I never did," he moans. But of course, the press took their source as none other than Alex Ferguson.

Nope. Fergie refused a request to take part in the documentary. Though given his long-standing feud with the BBC, that refusal was almost certainly a snub at the Corporation rather than something against Rooney. But it's now fairly clear exactly what happened: a blazing row, words said in anger, only half meant, and both men then using the incident to suit themselves. In other words, just a normal day in the world of the Premier League…

Rooney and Fergie had a blazing row; Fergie made it public; Rooney scrabbled around for an excuse that didn't make him look so bad. And now he's blaming the media.