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Wayne Rooney names the one manager he wished he played under and he even tried to sign him

Home> Football> Football News> Man Utd

Updated 06:00 6 Mar 2025 GMTPublished 15:12 5 Mar 2025 GMT

Wayne Rooney names the one manager he wished he played under and he even tried to sign him

Wayne Rooney spoke to the legendary manager before completing a transfer to Manchester United.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

Wayne Rooney has named the one manager he wished he played under and revealed the legendary boss even tried to sign him.

Rooney, just 16-years-old at the time, burst onto the scene following his famous strike against Arsenal in a Premier League fixture.

He continued to enhance his reputation at Everton before Manchester United swooped in and secured his services after splashing out £25.6 million.

Rooney went onto enjoy an iconic career at Old Trafford, winning five Premier League titles and the Champions League during a trophy-laden spell.

With 253 goals across all competitions to his name, Rooney is Man United's all-time leading scorer.

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But things could have turned out very differently had he made another move after rising to fame at Everton.

Wayne Rooney almost joined Newcastle United after speaking to Alan Shearer and Sir Bobby Robson. Image: Getty
Wayne Rooney almost joined Newcastle United after speaking to Alan Shearer and Sir Bobby Robson. Image: Getty

Newcastle United were also interested in signing Rooney and tabled a £20 million bid, which was rejected.

Newcastle went to extreme lengths to acquire him from Everton, with Alan Shearer and then-manager Sir Bobby Robson speaking directly to the player.

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Rooney ultimately turned down the advances from Shearer and Robson but said it would've been great to have played under the late, great gaffer.

Speaking on Amazon Prime ahead of Arsenal's Champions League tie against PSV Eindhoven, he revealed: "There was interest from Newcastle United when I was at Everton, I was 18 years of age. I actually spoke to Alan Shearer as well, spoke to Bobby. It probably put a bit more pressure on Manchester United to sign me.

"He was such a gentleman and it would’ve been great to play for him. I wanted the number nine (shirt), Shearer wouldn’t give me it!"

After snubbing a move to Newcastle, Rooney enjoyed 13 seasons at Man United, becoming a club legend following the trophies he inspired them to and his iconic goal-scoring exploits.

Featured Image Credit: BBC

Topics: Newcastle United, Wayne Rooney, Sir Bobby Robson, Alan Shearer, Football, Manchester United

Nasir Jabbar
Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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@NasJabbar

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