On a recent episode of The Overlap, the conversation about wages and contracts rose to the fore – and Wayne Rooney, after being asked, revealed the size of his biggest contract he put pen to paper on during his lengthy spell at Manchester United. Shocked (and perhaps extremely jealous!) at Rooney's admission, the likes of Gary Neville and Ian Wright were, for once, left speechless.
Rooney was signed from Everton by Sir Alex Ferguson's all-conquering United side in the summer of 2004 and, well, neither party looked back. Albeit a teenager, the Liverpudlian relished battles with the toughest of opponents – and he also scored goals at an alarming rate, evidenced by his hat-trick against Fenerbahce on his debut.
Nobody could foresee the impact he'd have on proceedings at Old Trafford, but he ended his career – which saw him lift a quintet of Premier League titles and the solitary Champions League – as the club's all-time top goalscorer with 253 strikes in 559 outings. With that, of course, Rooney was often one of United's highest-paid players, but the intricate details of his deal came as a surprise to Neville.
Wayne Rooney – Career Statistics
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Details of Rooney's Biggest Man Utd Contract Revealed, Neville Left in Shock
Wayne Rooney
Given the influence he had on United throughout his goal-laden career, few would raise their eyebrows at Rooney's continued importance – but, even so, his 2011/12 wage packet was much, much higher than that of Neville. Current footballers being paid eye-watering sums of money is no surprise to fans, but Rooney hung up his boots in 2021.
That said, Rooney remained relatively quiet while Neville, Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane, Ian Wright and the former do-it-all centre-forward himself were chatting about how much they were paid at the peak of their powers. "Wayne's being quiet about contracts, yeah, we get yours on the table!" Keane said, prompting laughter from his fellow co-hosts. "He's laughing at you Gary!"
Neville then asked: "You might not want to answer this, but you also might want to take it out even if you do answer it. What would be your biggest contract at United? Basically, I'm your teammate in 2010/11, and I'm on £1.75 million. I'm captain..."
gary neville
"Biggest? Probably would have been £17 million a year," Rooney – widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers in football history – responded to the disbelief of The Overlap's star-studded panel, especially former teammate Neville.
Divided across a 52-week period, Rooney would've been earning £326,923 on a week-by-week basis. Compared to Ruben Amorim's squad in 2025/26, Rooney would be United's second-highest paid player behind only Casemiro as the Brazilian midfielder reportedly takes home £350,000-per-week – which equates to £18.2 million every year.
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There are very few times when Neville is left speechless – but the defender-turned-businessman's open-mouthed response proved that he was taken aback by Rooney's claim. "At United? I think I should have got paid a little bit more, do you think?" the 50-year-old Englishman said before adding, "That's amazing. Well done. Congratulations."
Rooney – in jest but with a grateful undertone – then thanked his off-camera agent named Paul Stretford, promoting Neville to joke, "Paul, let's have a chat afterward. I think I need an agent! All that stuff I have said over the years about not needing an agent. You need a f***ing agent! £17 million a year? That's unbelievable, Wazza. Wow!"
Earlier this year, Neville revealed that he concluded his lengthy Old Trafford career on £2.3 million as Carragher claimed his partner in crime was underpaid as a result. The Liverpool hero's biggest yearly pay-out at Liverpool was £3 million per year – after being boosted by a bonus following his side's Champions League triumph over AC Milan in 2005.
All statistics per Transfermarkt – correct as of 21/11/2025