Football
Richard Jolly, ESPN.com writer 9y

Sir Alex Ferguson: Wayne Rooney turned down Man United twice

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Wayne Rooney twice rejected a move to Manchester United.

The former United manager eventually succeeded in signing Rooney at the third attempt, when he paid Everton £27 million for the teenager in 2004.

But it ended a four-year pursuit of Rooney -- now United's captain -- as Ferguson had identified him as a target much earlier on the recommendation of Jim Ryan, then director of youth football at Old Trafford.

"Jim Ryan came back from one of our academy games at the 14 years level and he said 'I've seen a player' and he said the boy is Wayne Rooney," Ferguson told ITV Sport.

"We tried to get him because there's a window at the end of the season -- it's a one-week window -- where we can entice or approach a boy from another club to come join your academy, but it failed.

"The boy wanted to stay at Everton -- at that time he had a love of the club and he's an Everton fan."

Ferguson -- who admits his tough approach to discipline could have cost him Premier League titles at United -- made a second bid for Rooney a few weeks before he rose to prominence by scoring his first Premier League goal, a winner against reigning champions Arsenal.

"When he got to 16 we tried again," he added. "We approached him to join as a 16-year-old, but once again he refused.

"Then I think everyone saw the highlights when he scored that goal against Arsenal. It confirmed exactly what Jim Ryan had said. This boy was going to be a United player."

Rooney, who is now in his 12th season at Old Trafford, has scored 233 United goals and is closing in on Sir Bobby Charlton's club record of 249.

Rooney will be presented with an award next month if he breaks or equals Charlton's all-time England scoring record in the coming days.

The England skipper's current total stands at 48 goals, just one shy of the World Cup-winning former United forward.

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