Wayne Rooney is between coaching jobs after two major setbacks at Birmingham and Plymouth, where the Man Utd legend did not exactly put forward his candidacy for the next managerial job. Then it’s good to have a podcast to fall back to, with stories about your own career. With 253 goals in 559 games and a good contributor to making the Man Utd shirt iconic, we listen when Mr. Rooney tells us. Especially when it’s behind the scenes stories.
As an 18-year-old Everton player, Rooney signed with Manchester United, now the 40-year-old Rooney talks about the club he would have been more than happy to sign for if United hadn’t picked up the pace.
READ: Throws himself into the battle for Erling Braut Haaland with a concrete financial plan
Both Newcastle legend Alan Shearer and iconic manager Sir Bobby Robson had called the 18-year-old and impatient super talent, a push that Rooney now says he was ready to jump on.
“I would definitely have gone [to Newcastle]. Manchester United wanted to wait a season and then sign me the year after they signed me. Newcastle made a bid, and if Manchester United hadn’t come in, I would have gone to Newcastle,” Rooney says on his self-titled podcast The Wayne Rooney Show.
-The two bid against each other. The agent’s best friend was chairman of Newcastle at the time, so I’m sure he was pushed to try and get hold of me as well. I wanted to go to Manchester United, but I spoke to Sir Bobby Robson and Alan Shearer. In true Bobby Robson style, he called me ‘Mark’ on the phone. I thought he had either forgotten my name, or that he was a genius – because that’s my middle name,” Rooney reminisces.
Read on Popidol: George Lucas in negotiations right after saying this! “I’ve put Star Wars behind me”
Manchester United were forced to act quickly, which they did. The rest is Manchester United history.
