Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has denied handing in a transfer request in 2013, although he admits he did discuss a potential exit with Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ferguson signed Rooney from Everton in 2004 but, despite enjoying great success at Old Trafford prior to the Scot's retirement two years ago, the pair had a difficult relationship.
He had announced in October 2010 that Rooney had expressed a desire to leave the club only for the forward to commit to a new five-year contract later that month, but there were further issues in Ferguson's final season and the United boss told the media in May 2013: "He has asked for a transfer."
Speaking in the forthcoming BBC documentary "Rooney: The Man Behind the Goals," the England international has stressed that he did not formally request a move but said he did tell the manager he was unhappy after finding himself behind Robin van Persie in the pecking order in the 2012-13 season.
Rooney said: "I went in to see him and just said, 'If you are not going to play me then it might be better for me to move on.'
"Then, all of a sudden, it was all over the press that I had put a transfer request in, which I never did. I don't know what happened, why that came out that way."
Rooney has previously said he was unhappy at having been used as a midfielder under Ferguson, while the Scot was critical of the player in the autobiography he published shortly after his retirement.
Asked about his relationship with Ferguson now, Rooney said: "It is not just me who has had a fall-out with Alex Ferguson. I think many players have. Some have left. Some have stayed."
Rooney recently praised Ferguson as football's finest ever manager, though, and he says the chance to play under him had been the driving force behind his move from boyhood club Everton.
"He was the reason why I wanted to join Man United, to work with him -- in my eyes the best manager of all time," Rooney said. "For him to be interested in me and wanting me to play under him, there was nowhere else I was going to go."