 Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985 in Liverpool) is an English footballer. He currently plays for the English Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team. He normally played as a second striker to Ruud van Nistelrooy for his club team before van Nistelrooy's move to Real Madrid,[citation needed] although during 2005-06, he showed his versatility as a player by shifting to the midfield and playing on both flanks. He wears number 8 for Manchester United and wears number 9 for the English national team.
Rooney was brought up in an urban area of eastern Liverpool called Croxteth, where he and his two brothers attended the local De La Salle Catholic School.[citation needed]
His boyhood team was always Everton; his love for his home town club was famously bore out when he wore a T-shirt reading "Once a blue, Always a blue".[1] However, he would end up playing just two seasons with Everton before demanding, and then executing, a transfer. This has left him on unfavourable terms with Everton fans, as they showed when he returned to Goodison Park and he was booed severely.[2]
Although he has been under an intense media spotlight since first arriving on the scene in 2002, it was not until his performances at Euro 2004 that he gained a reputation on the world stage, as he spearheaded the English attack, scoring four goals. Rooney is also on the cover of the FIFA 06 & FIFA 07 video game in the United Kingdom.[3]
Career
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Premiership breakthough
After excelling for Liverpool Schoolboys and The Dynamo Brownwings, Rooney was signed by Everton shortly before his 11th birthday.[4] Rooney gained national prominence on the 19th of October 2002 when he became the youngest goal scorer in the history of the Premier League at 16 years and 360 days while playing for Everton (though this record has since been surpassed twice).[citation needed] His goal against then-champions Arsenal was a last-minute winner and brought to an end the London side's 30-match unbeaten run.[5] At the end of 2002 he won the BBC Sports Young Personality of the Year award. On 26 December 2002 he "achieved" the record of becoming the youngest player ever to be sent off in a Premiership game.[citation needed] This is also his only standing record in the Everton books.[citation needed]
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National team career
Rooney playing for England
He has also figured prominently in recent England international matches, after having become the youngest ever player to play for England, in a friendly against Australia, on 12 February 2003, aged 17 years, 111 days. This record has since been surpassed by Theo Walcott, who came off the bench to play in England's friendly against Hungary on 30 May 2006. England's youngest ever player previous to Rooney was James F. M. Prinsep of Clapham Rovers,[citation needed] who made his debut almost one and a quarter centuries before, on 5 April 1879, aged 17 years, 253 days. Rooney is also the youngest England scorer ever (17 years, 317 days).
His reputation as one of the world's most exciting young players was further enhanced by his impressive performances for England at Euro 2004 in Portugal.[neutrality disputed] At the tournament Rooney became the youngest player ever to score in the UEFA European Football Championships, when on 17 June 2004 he scored twice against Switzerland; although the Swiss player, Johan Vonlanthen, broke this record against France four days later. Unfortunately Rooney was injured early in the quarter final match against Portugal and England were subsequently knocked out on penalties.
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Transfers
Before turning 17 and becoming eligible for a professional contract, he was playing for £80 a week and living with his family on a council estate. His salary has since been increased several times and Rooney now earns an estimated £51,755 a week. Following intense media coverage of Rooney at Euro 2004, Everton claimed that they would not transfer his contract for less than £50 million. The club offered Rooney a new contract for £12,000 a week for three years. This, however, was turned down by Rooney's agent on the 27 August 2004, leaving Manchester United and Newcastle United to compete for his signature.
The Times newspaper reported that Newcastle were close to signing the young star for £18.5 million, a fact later confirmed by Rooney's agent. Manchester United, however, were the successful club in signing the young talent. Rooney handed in a transfer request to Everton and on 31 August 2004, Rooney signed for Manchester United after a deal worth around £31 million (£49 million including wages) was agreed. The deal was concluded just hours before the transfer deadline.
The initial fee of £23m was paid to Everton over two years; the rest of the money depends on appearances and/or success at Manchester United and/or England. It is likely the fee will reach the maximum £31m within the next 3 years. A final fee in the region of £33m plus costs (mainly player bonuses, excl. wages) is more likely. In the club's 2004-05 accounts, Rooney's contract is recorded as having a book cost of £25.066 million as at 30 June 2005, with contingent payables of £14 million, giving a maximum final fee of £39.066 million including costs.[6]
Rooney's transfer fee is the second highest for an exclusively British deal, with only his Manchester United team-mate, Rio Ferdinand, commanding a higher fee. Rooney does, however, have the honour of being the most expensive teenage footballer ever, being only 18 when Manchester United signed him.[7]
Rooney made his debut for the club on 28 September 2004 in the UEFA Champions League against Fenerbahçe, scoring a hat-trick and also an assist (the match finished in a 6-2 win for United). For the 2005-06 season, Rooney initially started playing in wider positions than his more favoured central role. Pundits and fans alike agreed that he seemed less effective in such positions. Eventually, after Manchester United's poor run of form early in the season, Sir Alex Ferguson moved him back to his stronger position, playing behind Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy as a second striker. He got his first professional Winners Medal in the 2006 English League Cup. He was also named Man of the Match in the League Cup final against Wigan Athletic, after scoring two goals in the final (a 4-0 victory for United), en route to winning his first senior medal. He was also a member of the United side defeated in the 2005 FA Cup Final by Arsenal. He captained Manchester United for the first time in a home Champions League match against Copenhagen on 17 October 2006, becoming probably the youngest captain in the clubs' history.[8] On 26 November 2006 he signed a two-year extension to his contract, which will keep him at Old Trafford until at least 2012; the contract extension negotiations only took one month, which was interpreted as showing how keen both sides were to conclude the extension.
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Manchester United career
Wayne Rooney has not been a prolific goal scorer for Manchester United, nor Everton, not matching the level of goals scored by other strikers such as Ruud van Nistelrooy. However, he is a regular assist contributor.[9]
Rooney has also failed to net in Europe since his hat-trick against Fenerbahce on 28 September 2004.
During the first half of the 2006-7 season, Rooney was perceived to have suffered a dip in form, and went 10 games without a goal, before getting a hat-trick against Bolton. There was speculation about his fitness and confidence on the pitch,[citation needed] as his goal rate had been matched by Louis Saha and exceeded by Cristiano Ronaldo, a winger. Nevertheless, as of February 2007 he was the top English goalscorer in the Premiership, and had received significantly fewer bookings. In the FA Cup tie against Portsmouth, Rooney came on as a substitute and scored two goals, one of which being a superb 25-yard chip over talented goalkeeper, David James and seemed to have regained his goalscoring form in the 2-1 defeat of Manchester United by Arsenal, scoring the only Manchester United goal.
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2004 Court Case
In and around 2002 there was a dispute between two groups over who had the right to manage Rooney and this led to a criminal trial after allegations that one side was trying to demand money with menaces from the other. The court was told that one group sought the help of the infamous London gangster Tommy Adams in resolving the dispute.[citation needed]
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Disciplinary issues
Wayne Rooney's career has been tainted with moments of ill-discipline.[10] In September 2005, against Northern Ireland, Rooney launched an on-field outburst at former England captain David Beckham,[11] but since then the pair have played down the bust-up.
His ill-discipline led to his dismissal in the 0-0 draw with Villarreal during United's Champions League encounter in Spain. Rooney was sent off for dissent following his sarcastic applauding of the referee, Kim Milton Nielsen, after he was initially booked for what he felt was an unfair booking.[12]
Rooney has pledged to keep his temper under control and both his club and international managers have defended him, citing his youth as the main reason for his behaviour. It is known that other teams and players are familiar with Rooney's disciplinary problems and sometimes use them against him, teasing him or provoking him.[13] Since the 2004-05 season he has been trying to keep his temper in check, as shown by a drop in cards received in the 2005-06 season. In the 2006 World Cup quarter-final match with Portugal, Rooney was sent off after an incident during the 62nd minute of the match. He became only the third English player to be given a red card while playing a match in a World Cup Finals. Rooney was struggling to gain proper control of the ball as he was involved in a tangle with Ricardo Carvalho and Petit, during which he appeared to stamp
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