"We firmly believe that in Wayne we've got one of the brightest young talents in England for many, many years ..."
Ten years and counting, as it happens. Those words came from the mouth of David Gill, as Wayne Rooney was unveiled to the world as a Manchester United player. Signed at the end of August 2004, he didn't make his debut until 28 September against Fenerbahce, his first taste of European football. And as you may recall, it went quite well ...
Since then, Rooney's won five league titles, two League Cups and the Champions League. He's scored 219 goals, seen his wage packet swell exponentially, handed in more than zero transfers requests, and been made captain. Most recently, he kicked Stewart Downing in the balls. A mixed career, then, it seems fair to say. TBB would like to take this opportunity to direct you towards our feature on "The Lost Boy Wonder", which went up in February but is well worth a read (or a re-read). Then, tell us all about why you hate/love/hate and love Rooney in the comments below.
Since you ask, this aspect of tBB has always held this particular goal in high regard. You can't quite see from the video, but he goes straight from gobbing off at the ref to thumping it into the net. Happy days:
* All right, that was technically ten years ago yesterday, but you can take your pedantry to the comments section where it belongs.