Wayne Rooney saved Manchester United from complete disaster against Stoke City yesterday. Rooney connected with a late equalizer during stoppage time with a beautiful free kick to pick to save a point for his club. Rooney finally made history as he surpassed Sir Bobby Charlton as the all-time leading scorer for Manchester United with 250 goals. Therefore, it’s only right to reflect on Rooney controversial but legendary career.
Photo credit via Mirror
Young prodigy
Rooney exploded on the scene with Everton at the young age of 17. He only managed to stay at the club for two years. Back in 2004, Rooney asked for a transfer and got his request. Manchester United decided to pay 25 million for Rooney. At the time that was the highest fee for a player under 20 years old, he was only 18 years old when he left Everton. Rooney was given the number eight shirt upon his arrival at Old Trafford. He made his United debut during a statement win against Fenerbahçe 6–2 in the UEFA Champions League. He put on quite a performance scoring a hat-trick and an assist. Rooney made history becoming the youngest player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League at 18 years old.
Photo credit via Mirror
Accolades
In the 90’s Liverpool and Manchester battled for supremacy in the Premier League but clearly, Manchester won that battle. Manchester United gambled as they took a chance on a young prodigy such as Wayne Rooney. A look at the accolades that Rooney has received over his career thus far.
Premier League (5): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13
FA Cup (1): 2015–16
Football League Cup (2): 2005–06, 2009–10
FA Community Shield (4): 2007, 2010, 2011, 2016
UEFA Champions League (1): 2007–08
FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2008
Photo credit via Manchester United
A Future Legend
The excellence of Ronaldo and Messi over the years have made it impossible for future soccer players to live up to their expectations. Rooney is one of the many victims of this. In 2014, Rooney signed a new contract for four-year worth $139 Million and failed to live up to expectations.
Looking back, he had horrible seasons following his new contract in 33 appearances in the Premier League at Rooney’s time in Manchester he has only had more than 20 goals in two seasons with the club which is unacceptable because Rooney is held in such a high regard. This past Euro 2016 tournament Rooney once again surpassed Sir Bobby Charlton on the international level this time. Rooney is the all-time scoring leader for England with 53 goals. Rooney overtook Ruud van Nistelrooy, back in November to become Manchester United’s all-time leading scorer in European competitions Wayne Rooney has 39 goals and counting in all the Europan competitions. Regardless of your thoughts on Wayne Rooney’s career at Manchester, he will forever stay in the record books and he will be considered by many Manchester United fans a legend.
Photo credit via Manchester United Rooney 250 goals
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The excellence of Ronaldo and Messi over the years have made it impossible for future soccer players to live up to their expectations. Rooney is one of the many victims of this. In 2014, Rooney signed a new contract for four-year worth $139 Million and failed to live up to expectations.
Looking back, he had horrible seasons following his new contract in 33 appearances in the Premier League. He only scored more than 20 goals in two seasons with the club which is unacceptable. This past Euro 2016 tournament Rooney once again surpassed Sir Bobby Charlton on the international level. Rooney is the all-time scoring leader for England with 53 goals. Rooney overtook Ruud van Nistelrooy, back in November to become Manchester United’s all-time leading scorer in European competitions. In all Europan competitions, Rooney has 39 goals and counting. Regardless of your thoughts on his career at Manchester, he will forever stay in the record books and will be considered by many Manchester United fans a legend.
