Former Managers Pay Tribute To Rooney

Wayne Rooney has played under four managers in his successful club career and each of them pays tribute to the Manchester United captain in the official programme for tonight's testimonial match...

DAVID MOYES
“When I got the Everton job, I remember someone saying to me that we had a kid who was really good, and I just thought: ‘Yeah, I’ve heard that before.’ But the next month, I went to watch the Youth Cup semi-final against Tottenham and Wayne played. He was outstanding. He scored and I said to him after the game that he would be with the first team the next season, but we actually called him up earlier and made him a substitute at Southampton in April. He was 16 and we had to get him out of school! That kind of talent doesn’t come along often. I was lucky to have joined the club that had Wayne.”

SIR ALEX FERGUSON
“We first tried to get Wayne when he was 14, tried again at 16 and we kept interest in him before finally agreeing to get him in 2004. Although we had to wait to give him his debut as he was injured, I put him straight in against Fenerbahçe and he scored a hat-trick. What can you say? He hadn’t done any preparation, so to start like that was just unbelievable. He was an exciting signing. It was fairly shortly after I’d got rid of the idea of retiring and changed my mind, and I had to rethink about how we were going to take the club forward. When you make the decision to retire, you stop thinking, but once I decided to stay I started thinking again and it was really centred around bringing energy back into the team by looking at young players. Of course there was Cristiano Ronaldo, then there was Wayne Rooney, and it was a fantastic period. The two of them were unbelievable. Wayne came in as a first-team player right away, even though he was only 18, and he’s gone on to play for Manchester United for 12 years, which is very difficult in the present day. I always think that great players can play in any era; Bobby Charlton would have been a great player today and Wayne Rooney would have been a great player back then.”

LOUIS VAN GAAL
“I enjoyed working with Wayne. I started with a blank piece of paper when I went to Manchester United and gave all my players a fresh start. In the first three or four weeks of starting at the club I just observed the players and it was nice for me to see how he acted in the group and how he acted towards me, and what he did with all our exercises. I was very quickly convinced of his personality and that’s why he was easy to work with. I quickly decided he would be my captain, also because of the attitude of his fellow players towards him.”

JOSE MOURINHO
“It will be a very proud night for Wayne and for his family and I have no doubt the fans inside Old Trafford will show him the love and respect that he deserves. Wayne has provided many memorable goals and performances in his time here; I am sure that none of you will forget the Champions League hat-trick he scored on his debut or the stunning overhead kick against Manchester City in 2011. I am sure he will provide many more memorable moments for United in the coming years.”

The quotes above are taken from the Wayne Rooney testimonial programme that will be on sale at Old Trafford tonight (Wednesday), with all proceeds going to four charities of the captain's choice.

Credit: Manutd.com