Gary Neville has admitted that he was fully convinced that a Manchester United legend was going to move to Manchester City in 2010.
The start of that decade was a very interesting one in the Premier League, as Man United and Chelsea were the two dominant forces, but new ownership at City had the English giants worried.
Big names such as Carlos Tevez were joining Man City, having played for United the two years prior, but the owners at the Etihad Stadium had a bigger name in mind in 2010.
One star at Old Trafford found himself in an unsavoury situation, and City were ready to pounce should he opt to leave the Red Devils, with Neville now admitting that he was fully convinced his teammate was going to be wearing sky blue the year after.
Gary Neville previewing Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United.
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Gary Neville believed Wayne Rooney was going to join Man City
In 2010, Wayne Rooney found himself in hot water at Man United after he made a public statement that he would not be signing a new contract at Old Trafford.
“I met with David Gill [United’s chief executive] last week and he did not give me any of the assurances I was seeking about the future squad,” Rooney said at the time via The Guardian. “I then told him that I would not be signing a new contract.”
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Speaking about this incident 15 years later, Neville says he thought the striker was done at United after he went public with his feelings and that he was fully convinced the England legend would be moving to Man City.
“There was a massive issue in United with Wayne Rooney, who was going to City, and he put a public statement out at the time before a game. So this happened with Wazza, and to be fair, I thought he’d gone. I thought he was done,” Neville said on Stick to Football.
“There’s no way he’s coming back from that. To be fair, about three weeks later, he signed an extension to his contract.”
Rooney would go on to sign a new deal at Old Trafford, but it is incredible to think how the striker’s career would have panned out had he made the switch to the Etihad Stadium.
Rooney recently admitted that he believes Sergio Aguero was a better player than Mohamed Salah and a partnership with the Argentina star would have been devastating in the Premier League.
Wayne Rooney in action for Manchester United v Crystal Palace.
Photo by James Baylis – AMA/Getty Images
Man City was never an option for Wayne Rooney
Rooney has previously spoken about this saga, and although there were links to Man City at the time, the Englishman stated that moving to Man United’s rivals was never an option for him.
“There was Real Madrid, Barcelona and the Man City thing keeps cropping up, but there was never the option for me to go there,” the former striker said. “Although there were rumours on that as well, but the other three, really, were more realistic options.
“In my head, at the time, in that two-day period, I was ready to go and play in Spain. Ideally, I would have liked to have gone to Barcelona, but it was looking more likely to be Real Madrid than Barcelona. Chelsea were always there as well.”
Rooney would go on to have a legendary career at Man United, but discussions like this will always have fans wondering what if.