Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney was born on 24 October 1985 in Liverpool. On 31 August 2004 he was signed by Manchester United, having played throughout his career for Everton.
Of his £27 million transfer to Manchester United, Rooney said: "It was a tough decision to leave Everton, the club I've supported and played for all my life, but I'm excited to be joining a club as big as Manchester United."
His new boss Alex Ferguson said: "I am very excited, I think we have got the best young player this country has seen in the past 30 years".
Wayne Rooney later revealed in his autobiography that: "I would have gone almost anywhere just to get away from David Moyes".
Rooney was impressive before Euro 2004, but shot up in value in that competition with his brilliant performances before he broke his metatarsal bone playing against Portugal - a game that England lost after his departure from the pitch.
Wayne Rooney was named in UEFA's All Star squad of Euro 2004.
Rooney's Premiership debut came against Spurs on the opening day of the 2002/03 season, but his first ever goal came in October 2002 against Arsenal. It was a stuuner in the last minute of the game. Rooney became the youngest goalscorer in the Premiership's history (the record would be overtaken a few weeks later by James Milner).
He became the youngest player to represent his country when he made his debut against Australia in February 2003 at the age of 17; and then broke another record becoming England's youngest ever goalscorer when he scored against Macedonia in a Euro 2004 qualifier in September 2003.
In September 2005, Wayne Rooney added FIFPro's young player award after a poll of 38,000 professional footballers in 40 countries.
In 2006, Wayne Rooney won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award for the second year running.
When Rooney broke a metatarsal at the end of the 2005/6 season, hardly a day went by without speculation on whether he would be available for the World Cup. In the end, Rooney was able to play in the tournament and started by coming on as substitute in the game against Trinidad and Tobago.
The 2006 World Cup worsened for Wayne Rooney and England when he got sent off after Manchester United colleague Cristiano Ronaldo had words with the referee in England's match against Portugal.
England went on to lose 1-0, and their World Cup dreams were dashed.
More information can be found in the biography of Wayne Rooney's fiancee Coleen McLoughlin.
Wayne Rooney News 2007 :: Wayne Rooney News 2004 :: Wayne Rooney News 2005 and 2006