Sir Alex Ferguson: Wayne Rooney turned down Man United move twice
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has told ITV Sport he twice failed to sign Wayne Rooney before finally getting his man.
The England captain was spotted playing against United's Under-14s by youth coach Jim Ryan, who told Ferguson he should try and sign the young striker, but Rooney rejected the chance and stayed at Everton.
Ferguson once again attempted to bring Rooney to Old Trafford when he was 16, but the Evertonian turned down the offer. It took until 2004, when Rooney was 18, for Ferguson to bring in the star for £28million.
"Jim Ryan came back from one of our academy games at the 14 years level and he said 'I've seen a player' and he said the boy is Wayne Rooney and we tried to get him because there's a window at the end of the season - it's a one week window - where we can entice or approach a boy from another club to come join your academy, but it failed.
"The boy wanted to stay at Everton - at that time he had a love of the club and he's an Everton fan," Ferguson told Gabriel Clarke.
Despite this rejection, Ferguson kept tabs on the young Rooney and once again made an offer two years later, but the outcome was the same.
"When he got to 16 we tried again. We approached him to join as a 16-year-old, but once again he refused. Then I think everyone saw the highlights when he scored that goal against Arsenal. It confirmed exactly exactly what Jim Ryan had said. This boy was going to be a United player."
Rooney signed on the dotted line in 2004 when United paid around £28 million for his services after the striker impressed Ferguson in the Premier League.
"And then he came on as a sub against us and we beat them 4-3 and he missed a sitter in that game. But he came on as 17-year-old lad. After that, I had Walter Smith as my assistant and he said 'we've got to get this kid, we've got to get him', and that started the process of the bid. "Eventually we got it done in my office after we played Everton. There was Bill Kenwright, Maurice Watkins and David Moyes, obviously, arguing over the deal and we eventually got it done."