Former Manchester United manager, David Moyes, has revealed that Chelsea were close to signing Rooney and he had to fight to keep Rooney in Manchester.
English superstar Wayne Rooney has always been involved in some or the other controversy throughout his career. He has at times been linked with a move away from Manchester United. The forward was on the verge of joining local rivals Manchester City in 2010 and now, David Moyes has revealed that the Englishman was poised to join Chelsea in 2013.
“Chelsea were close to taking him,” Moyes told the Sunday Times
“Jose [Mourinho] was interested but we wouldn’t do any business. I had to fight to make sure he stayed – and was at the heart, again, of what Manchester United were going to be moving forward.”
Moyes worked with Rooney in his time at Goodison Park, but the two had a very public fallout when the Manchester United captain accused the manager of leaking his reasons for leaving the Merseyside club to the press in his 2006 autobiography.
Eventually, the matter was settled out of court but there were reports of the two still being at loggerheads. However, Moyes, who managed the Red Devils for the 2013-14 season, maintains that the two had a good relationship and he was able to revive the fight in the striker.
“I felt he’d lost a bit of his fight,” Moyes explains.
“The thing about Wayne was he was always a fighter; he’s a technically terrific footballer, can do anything with the ball, but behind it he’s a tough boy, a street fighter in his football, and I felt he’d lost a bit of that.
“I think he agreed and probably thought, ‘Wait a minute, I have to go back to being a bit more aggressive, a bit more myself'”.
Rooney has played a highly influential role in Manchester Uniteda s season so far, which sees them third in the league and ready to seal Champions League qualification. Rooney has scored 12 goals and provided 5 assists in 29 games so far this season playing in different positions in the midfield and as a striker throughout the campaign.