An announcement on manutd.com broke the news saying
"Manchester United is delighted to announce that it has finalised an agreement with Everton Football Club for the transfer of Wayne Rooney. Wayne has signed a six year contract until 30 June 2010."
The news most Everton fans didn't want to hear, but most people expected to hear became reality when the drawn out saga ended today and Rooney made the short trip across the East Lancs road to the Theatre of Dreams.
It seems the transfer has excited Sir Alex Ferguson as he told the club website, that he was
"...very excited, I think we have got the best young player this country has seen in the past 30 years. Everyone is delighted by this signing”.
Wayne Rooney, though
"...excited to be joining a club as big as Manchester United. I feel this can only improve my career, playing with top players in top competitions like the Champions League and I can't wait to meet up with the team."
did feel a tinge of regret as he confirmed that,
"It was a tough decision to leave Everton, the club I've supported and played for all my life..." - a toffee supporter since a child, the time had come for the footballing education to take the next step
Glittering Start to Career
Since his debut against Spurs on the opening day of the 2002/3 season, Everton fans have known what the rest of the football world discovered during a game against Arsenal. Wayne scored his first Premiership goal - the goal that ended Arsenal's impressive away record, a goal that had Arsene Wenger drooling and the papers crowning the arrival of the latest wonderkid.
Born on the 24th October, 1985, he also holds the current record for being the youngest ever England player (v Australia in February 2003) and the youngest England international goalscorer (v Macedonia in September 2003).
Add to that an awe inspiring European Championship in Portugal for the national team, a broken metatarsal, The BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2002, a £25 million transfer - all before his 19th birthday and it's easy to see why this is the biggest transfer of the season. Could it be the transfer to bring the title back to Old Trafford, only time will tell |
