Manchester United have had some incredible players in the history of the football club, but few could tie the laces of Wayne Rooney.
It was back in the summer of 2004 that Manchester United sealed the signature of now legendary forward, Wayne Rooney, paying around £30m to sign the 18-year-old.
Rooney was a level above anyone his age and even today an 18-year-old hasn’t been able to replicate his impact, with the forward’s physicality and intensity being a factor that set him apart from anyone else at the time.
Even before joining United, Rooney was a sensation with only Lionel Messi comparable at his age. Rooney broke through at the age of 16, under David Moyes and the rest is history.
Rooney became United’s record goalscorer and is an indisputable legend of the club and football generally. It is incredibly rare that players are so complete so young, and now Rooney’s first professional manager, Moyes, has shared what he thought of the talent when he broke through.
Wayne Rooney with David Moyes at Manchester United Press Conference.
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
David Moyes on how brilliant Wayne Rooney was as a teenager
Moyes has always spoken glowingly about Rooney over the years and he has done so again during an interview with Andy Mitten for The National.
When asked what it was like to have brought through a player like Rooney.
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“He was a kid from Croxteth”, Moyes began. “It’s amazing though when I get to see Wayne now and where he is and how he’s matured, how his work is much better. I know he’s had some challenges but I think he’s matured, got older and wiser.
“He wasn’t always like that. He was mouthy from a young age. I was a relatively young coach and reluctant to bring such a young player in. I was under pressure from the media because we had other strikers.
“I was thinking ‘we’ll give him a game here and there, play him off the left.’ But then I realised that he was so good that Wayne could have played just about anywhere, even in goal.
“He was such a robust boy who understood football and obviously had all his skills. But all his thoughts were about scoring goals.”
Regarding the bold claim he could play anywhere, Moyes previously explained, as quoted by the Independent, that he felt this way about Rooney because: “It was because he was a footballer, a genuine, old-fashioned street footballer.”
How David Moyes feels about his time at Manchester United
Less than a decade after Rooney joined United, Moyes joined him at Old Trafford to replace the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson.
Moyes finished 7th at United in his one season in charge, which was bad at the time, but is now only the third lowest finish post-Ferguson.
Looking back on this time with Mitten, Moyes admitted his regret.
“With bits of disappointment. It was one of the biggest clubs in the world, I had the opportunity and I felt as if I didn’t step it up, but I think there were a lot of mitigating circumstances and history would agree to that.
“There was a big change needed when Alex (Ferguson) stepped down. I’ve got a big change here now at Everton as we try to take it away from the bad years and build a new team up.
“We’re in a process of rebuilding whereas United had just won the league and all the other teams were building to get ahead of United. At the time there was a changing of the guard needed of some brilliant players.
“I didn’t plan to change anything that Fergie did, but I couldn’t be Fergie, I had to be myself. United had won the league and I was in a good position, but I don’t know if the team was ready to go again and win it again.”