It was on Saturday, October 19, 2002, when Wayne Rooney introduced himself to the world.
At just the ninth attempt, the Croxteth product, at the tender age of just 16 years, 11 months and 25 days, scored his first-ever Premier League goal, becoming, at the time, the division's youngest-ever goalscorer. It was a strike that sealed his boyhood club, Everton, a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Goodison Park, ending the Gunners' 30-match unbeaten run in the process.
As Clive Tyldesley, who was on the Goodison gantry, echoed 'Remember the name, Wayne Rooney', the boyhood Toffee was mobbed by his teammates, who were no doubt mesmerised by the quality of the strike they had just witnessed from someone who was not even yet old enough to legally drink. It was a stunning hit, one that signalled the beginning of a six-match winning run in the league for the Toffees.
READ MORE: Harry Kane has told Erik ten Hag what he wants to hear
Even though Rooney had scored the goal that started that run, he was not rewarded with a starting berth at any point during it. Instead, he continued to appear as a second half substitute, even though he scored another winner, this time against Leeds United at Elland Road 15 days later to seal a 1-0 win.
Rooney's performances, which were littered with skill, trickery, energy and the fearless attitude resembling a young child in the school playground five lunchtimes a week, were forcing clubs to sit up and take note of his talent and potential. He was special and everyone knew he was special. He had an aura about him that meant you could not take your eyes off him.
But as Rooney continued to dazzle in the blue of his beloved Everton, Sir Alex Ferguson must have been wondering what he had to do to lure him to Manchester United, having seen his previous attempt instantly quashed. Long before many Evertonians even knew who Rooney was, Ferguson had already reached out to try and convince him to swap Everton's academy for United's.
Ferguson was ahead of the curve and had caught wind of the rapid progress the future England captain was making in the Everton youth ranks, so much so that he made contact with Rooney's parents - Jeanette and Thomas - when he was just 14 years old. The legendary United manager's efforts, however, were quickly shot down by the now-DC United head coach, who responded with the type of answer you would expect from a teenager whose heart was set on playing for his boyhood club and nobody else, even if it was one of the greatest managers of all-time on the other end of the phone.
"Sir Alex Ferguson tried to sign me when I was 14," Rooney told The Sun, speaking last year. "He was on the phone to my mum and dad.
"They said, 'Alex is on the phone, Manchester United want to sign you'. I said 'Tell him to f*** off. I want to play for Everton'.
"Then as time went on, I knew I had to play for Alex Ferguson. The reason I signed for United was Alex Ferguson."
After scoring 17 goals in 77 appearances for Everton, United turned to Rooney again towards the end of the 2004 summer transfer window, just over two months after the then-18-year-old had lit up the European Championship in Portugal, scoring four goals in four games for England. After several weeks of speculation, United got their man, signing him on a six-year contract in a deal worth up to £27million.
"I am very excited," admitted Ferguson. "I think we have got the best young player this country has seen in the past 30 years."
Even Ferguson, however, could not have possibly predicted what Rooney would eventually achieve in United colours, in a career that spanned more than a decade at Old Trafford. The former Derby County boss settled into his new surroundings with ease, making himself at home immediately, scoring a famous hat-trick on his debut, helping the Reds batter Fenerbahce 6-2 in the Champions League. It was a first outing that could not have possibly gone any better for an 18-year-old who had to live up to the hype.
Rooney ended his first campaign at Old Trafford with a very respectable and eye-catching tally of 17 goals. He was no ordinary teenager looking to make the grade at the world's biggest football club.
Tallies of 19, 23, 18 and 20 goals followed in the next four seasons. The silverware also started to stack up, with United's 2006 League Cup triumph marking the first major trophy of Rooney's career.
But after hammering home the goals at an alarming rate in his first five seasons at United, it was during the 2009/10 campaign when Rooney went up yet another gear. Now a matured and seasoned Premier League striker, he plundered 34 goals and registered seven assists in just 44 appearances in all competitions. Forty-one direct goal contributions in 44 games was an astonishing achievement.
Although Rooney continued to score goals at a rapid rate, just a couple of months into the 2010/11 season he rocked the footballing world when he submitted a transfer request in October 2010, claiming that the club did not match his own ambitions. Despite the rumblings and uncertainty that brought, he stayed at United for just under another seven years, before returning to Everton in July 2017.
In that seven-year period, the former United skipper continued to bang the goals in for fun, including another haul of 34 across all competitions in 2011/12. He quickly found himself, despite often dropping deep and playing in midfield in the latter stages of his Reds career, on the cusp of equalling Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 249 goals for the club. He eventually went past Charlton's tally when he netted a stunning free-kick to earn the Reds a point in a 1-1 draw against Stoke City in January 2017, scoring his 250th goal for United.
In the remaining months of the 2016/17 campaign - which was Rooney's final one at United - he scored three more goals, meaning he set a target of 253 goals for any United player of the present or the future to try and beat. Rooney will go down as one of football's all-time greats. A legend of the modern era. His place sketched in United's history forever.
All things considered, it's a good job Ferguson didn't wash his hands of Rooney when the 14-year-old version told his parents to tell British football's most successful manager of all-time to "f*** off," isn't it?
READ NEXT:
