Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has said that he came very close to joining Newcastle United before completing his fateful transfer to Old Trafford from Everton. Recall that the forward joined the Red Devils as a prodigious 18-year-old and went on to become a club legend, playing 559 matches and scoring 253 goals, but things could have been very different.
According to him, even though he was prepared to join the Magpies after they made an offer that summer, their bid eventually forced Manchester United to bid for his services.
Rooney added that his choice was MUFC in the end, despite speaking with Newcastle legend Alan Shearer.
His words, “I would have certainly went [to Newcastle]. Manchester United wanted to wait a season and then sign me the year after they did sign me. Newcastle put a bid in and if Manchester United hadn’t come in, I would have gone to Newcastle.
Those two were bidding against each other. My agent’s best mate was chairman at Newcastle at the time! So I’m sure he was getting nudged to try to get me as well. I wanted to go to Manchester United, but I spoke with Sir Bobby Robson and Alan Shearer.
In true Bobby Robson style, on the phone he called me ‘Mark’. I thought he had either forgotten my name or he was a genius – because that’s my middle name.”
WOW.
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division in the English football league system.
Nicknamed the Red Devils, they were founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, but changed their name to Manchester United in 1902. After a spell playing in Clayton, Manchester, the club moved to their current stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910.
Alex Ferguson and his assistant Archie Knox arrived from Aberdeen on the day of Atkinson’s dismissal, and guided the club to an 11th-place finish in the league. Despite a second-place finish in 1987–88, the club was back in 11th place the following season. Reportedly on the verge of being dismissed, Ferguson’s job was saved by victory over Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup final.
The following season, Manchester United claimed their first UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup title. That triumph allowed the club to compete in the European Super Cup for the first time, where United beat European Cup holders Red Star Belgrade 1–0 at Old Trafford. The club appeared in two consecutive League Cup finals in 1991 and 1992 the left and the right, but he’s not got any sense of danger yet, and empties the midfield area too readily.
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