Manchester United manager David Moyes lavished praise on Wayne Rooney after the striker inspired his side to a 4-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in their opening Champions League game.
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The England striker scored twice and set up a late goal for Antonio Valencia to give the Premier League champions a strong start in Group A and further confirm his commitment to the United cause.
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Moyes spent his first close season at Old Trafford fighting to keep Rooney at the club amid interest from Chelsea, and with three goals in two games, the 27-year-old has now reached the milestone of 200 goals for United.
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He requires 50 further goals to surpass Bobby Charlton as United's all-time leading scorer and Moyes says the prospect of a place in the club's history books helped persuade the former Everton player to stay put.
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"It was something that we made him aware of," Moyes told reporters after Tuesday's game at Old Trafford.
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"More importantly, I wanted to get him back in really good condition and mentally correct when he was ready to play.
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"I think you see him. He's moving as well as he has done, he's in a good place in himself at the moment, and obviously any centre-forward who's scoring goals feels good about himself."
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Moyes added: "If you want to win the Champions League, you need to have several world-class players and Wayne would certainly come into that category."
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Rooney is only the fourth player to have reached a double-century of United goals, after Charlton (249), Denis Law (237) and Jack Rowley (211).
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"I remember coming in and saying he's got a real chance to be one of the all-time leading goal-scorers at this club," Moyes added.
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"If he keeps playing like he did tonight, he'll get there. He was very, very good."
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Moyes also reserved praise for Marouane Fellaini, who has followed him to United from Everton and who produced an assured performance on his full debut before going off in the second half.