Wayne Rooney left Everton for Manchester United in 2004, and Paul Scholes has revealed the role he played in his ex-England team-mate moving to Old Trafford.
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has claimed he played a pivotal role in the signing of Wayne Rooney. The midfield maestro revealed he was enlisted by Sir Alex Ferguson to persuade Rooney to join the Red Devils, which resulted in a £27million move from Everton back in 2004.
Scholes, who also played with Rooney for England, shared how Ferguson involved him in the recruitment process. Speaking on the latest edition of the Football’s Greatest podcast alongside Nicky Butt, Scholes revealed: “I was a small part of that actually because we played with Wayne for England and the manager asked me to ring him.
“The manager sent me his [Rooney’s] phone number and [said] ‘I want to sign him.’ I rang him at home, it’s weird because I never spoke to him before, I’d only seen him for a day at England. I said ‘Wazza it’s Scholesy, the gaffer really wants you, he’s desperate to sign you, what do you think? ‘He said ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah I’d love to come’, straight away.”
Rooney’s transfer proved to be a masterstroke as he quickly became a key player for United, scoring 17 goals in his debut season. His illustrious career at Old Trafford spanned 13 years, during which time he netted 253 goals in 559 appearances, becoming the club’s all-time leading scorer.
Scholes and Rooney, who were club team-mates for nine years, once found themselves embroiled in a dispute despite their impressive trophy haul. In 2014, Scholes hinted that Rooney’s prime years might be behind him after United presented him with a five-year contract extension under Louis van Gaal, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Rooney took offence to Scholes’ remarks, suggesting they could have upset individuals at the club. “I’m sure he’s upset a lot of people at Man United because they see me as worthy of signing a new deal at the club, so they obviously have got a different opinion to what Paul has,” Rooney responded.
“It was a bit strange, I’ll be honest, but he has his opinions and he’s entitled to them,” he continued. “I don’t agree with it, but he’s probably the best player I’ve ever played with, so I’m not going to knock him as a player, but I don’t agree with his point. I’m sure he has his reasons for it.”
