Sir Alex Ferguson reveals Wayne Rooney had been a transfer target for years
ByPA Sport
Published 04/09/2015 at 16:18 GMT
Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he twice tried and failed to sign Wayne Rooney before finally enticing him to Old Trafford in 2004.
Wayne Rooney is poised to become England's all-time record goalscorer
Image credit: PA Sport
Rooney needs two more goals to break Sir Bobby Charlton's 45-year-old record and become England's all-time record goalscorer.
But Ferguson recalled how he took some convincing to make the move to United.
Ferguson said he first spotted Rooney's potential as a 14-year-old during an academy game but the staunch Everton fan was not interested in a move.
Rooney rejected similar overtures two years later before United finally landed him for a fee of around £28million two years later.
In an interview with ITV, Ferguson said: "(United youth coach) Jim Ryan came back from one of our academy games at the 14 years level and he said 'I've seen a player' and we said the boy is Wayne Rooney.
"We tried to get him because there's a window at the end of the season where we can entice or approach a boy from another club to come and join your academy, but it failed.
"The boy wanted to stay at Everton - at that time he had a love of the club and he's an Everton fan.
"When he got to 16 we tried again. We approached him to join as a 16-year-old, but once again he refused. Then I think everyone saw the highlights when he scored that goal against Arsenal.
"It confirmed exactly what Jim Ryan had said. This boy was going to be a United player."
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