Wayne Rooney has revealed that one of his Manchester United team-mates injured him in training after he submitted a transfer request in 2010.
Rooney sensationally made public his desire to leave Old Trafford in October 2010 after questioning the club’s management following the team’s failure to win the league the previous season.
United had failed to retain Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez a year earlier, and Rooney told chief executive David Gill he would not sign a new contract and wanted to move elsewhere.
The former England captain was accused of disrespect for the club by Sir Alex Ferguson, and Rooney has suggested some of his teammates were also unhappy with his desire to leave.
Talking about The Overlap with Gary Neville, presented by sky betRooney claimed he had been injured by a “horrible” tackle by United legend Paul Scholes immediately after his transfer request, and even joked that Ferguson may have told Scholes to do it.
Wayne Rooney (right) revealed he was injured in training after submitting a transfer request in 2010.
Rooney claims he was injured by United legend Paul Scholes (right) and was unable to play for a month.
Rooney joked that Sir Alex Ferguson may have told Scholes to hurt him after accusing the former England captain of disrespecting the club.
“You wanted to win the games (Friday training games) against them, some of the tackles that happened were horrible,” Rooney said.
‘He (Sir Alex Ferguson) used to stop the game and get us in. Scholesy (Paul Scholes) sent me off the day before the game.
‘It was the day the coach did his press conference that I wanted to leave, so I’m sure the coach spoke to him before training. I’m not kidding.’
Rooney made an extraordinary U-turn just two days after saying he wanted to leave, as he signed a new five-year contract and promised to regain the trust of United fans.
But he was unable to play for a further month following Scholes’ entry into training, as he did not return to action until coming on as a substitute in the 2–0 win against Wigan on 20 November.
Rooney put doubts about his future behind him to lead United to the Premier League title that season, their 12th under Ferguson, while the team also reached the Champions League final before losing to Barcelona in Wembley.
Rooney scored in that final, but a Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona took the well-deserved 3-1 victory at the home of English football.
He remained at United until 2017 and became the club’s all-time leading scorer in his final season, surpassing Sir Bobby Charlton.
During his 13 years at Old Trafford he scored 253 goals in 559 games, and won every major honor with the club during this period, including five league titles, four League Cups and the Champions League.
Despite Scholes keeping him out of action for a month, Rooney holds no grudge against his former team-mate and recently claimed he was the best English midfielder of his generation at “dictating a game”.
However, Rooney insisted Steven Gerrard was a better “all-round” midfielder than Scholes and Frank Lampard during their peak years.
‘Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are all different. As an all-rounder, Stevie is the best; “He can defend, pass the ball, run, make tackles, score goals and make set pieces,” Rooney explained. ‘As an all-rounder, he is the best from that point of view.
Rooney stayed at United and won the league the same season he submitted his transfer request.
Rooney holds no grudge against Scholes for the tackle that injured him and recently called Scholes the best English midfielder of his generation to “dictate a game”.
‘From a scoring point of view, Lamps (Frank Lampard) was the best. The goals he scored were incredible from midfield and technically he wasn’t on the level of Stevie or Scholesy, but there was no one better at scoring goals from midfield.
‘Scholesy, the way he adapted (made it amazing). I was a striker when I was younger, so moving to a ten, then midfield and then a deeper midfielder dictating the game, I don’t think either of the other two (Gerrard or Lampard) could dictate a game the way that he could.
‘They were all world-class players. Stevie could come to Manchester United and be a top player and do what Scholes could do. But I don’t think Scholes could do what Stevie did at Liverpool.”
Wayne Rooney spoke on The Overlap, presented by sky bet
