On 31 August 2004, Wayne Rooney completed his move to Manchester United from Everton in a deal worth £27 million, a record fee at the time for a player under the age of 20.
The move came together quickly in the final days of the transfer window, after Rooney handed in a transfer request at Everton having starred for England at that summer’s European Championship in Portugal, a tournament cut short by a broken foot.
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Newcastle had also been in the running, with club legend Alan Shearer and manager Sir Bobby Robson both making calls to try to convince the 18-year-old to move to Tyneside, though Rooney later admitted he would have joined the Magpies had United not come calling first.
Sir Alex Ferguson wasted no time throwing his new signing into action. Rooney made his full United debut against Fenerbahçe in the Champions League less than a month later, scoring a hat-trick and adding an assist.
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Rooney spent 13 years at Old Trafford, becoming both club and country captain along the way, and left in 2017 as United’s all-time record goalscorer, with 253 goals in 559 appearances, a mark that has never since been surpassed.
Photo: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
