Wayne Rooney recently marked his name in the history as he surpassed Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time goalscoring record past week. The 31-year-old English veteran scored his 250th goal for the Red Devils and that certainly, was a moment of remember for both the player and the fans. Sir Bobby Charlton’s record stand stood for 44 long years and with Rooney now a dreamcatcher, it is fair to say that his record will stand intact for a long run.

But in a recent interview, the former Manchester United boss – Sir Alex Ferguson – revealed that we might not have witnessed the moment had United stopped pursuing the striker back in 2004. He further went on to say that the Old Trafford outfit chased Wayne Rooney for four years and the then teenager rejected the offer twice before finally accepting the offer in 2004.

In an interview with the BBC, Ferguson said:

“When he was 14 years of age, Jim Ryan had flagged him up from the Everton academy and it was something that we paid attention to but he wouldn’t leave their academy at that time.”

Ferguson then went on to say that after two years, they approached again, but were denied for the second time running:

“When he became 16 we tried again but he still wouldn’t leave. Then when Walter Smith became assistant [at Manchester United] he said ‘you need Rooney, he’s the best young player in the game.”

But finally, Everton broke down and accepted to discuss a deal.

“And that’s when we started to be serious. We made overtures to Everton, they of course resisted but we kept at it. At the end of the day it came down to a price.

“It was decided when we played Everton at Old Trafford. We had Bill Kenwright, David Moyes, Maurice Watkins, David Gill and myself, thrashing out the deal. Bill Kenwright was on his phone and he hands it [to me] and says ‘it’s my mother, she wants to talk to you.’ She said ‘don’t you dare steal my boy!’

“We thrashed out the deal – £27m, 18 years of age.”

He also talked about his favourite of Rooney’s 250 goals for the club – his dramatic overhead kick to beat rival’s Manchester City at Old Trafford in 2011.

“The best goal was definitely against Man City,” Ferguson continued. “It was phenomenal.

Rooney has been a total enigma for Manchester United throughout his tenure, but a ship has to be docked at some point and it is all but certain that Rooney’s time at Old Trafford is coming to an end.

It is not a secret anymore that his instincts have been lacking a big time and his virtues have been diminishing, hence, the footballing world might see Rooney leave the Old Trafford premises to join a foreign club at the end of the season.