The Man Of England

Rooney has emerged as one of the most exciting and precocious talents in the world.

Once the teenage protege at Everton, he is now the hero of the Manchester United faithful.

The striker also set Euro 2004 alight, aged 18, with some sensational goalscoring displays. For a few days he was even the youngest goalscorer in European Championships finals until he was eclipsed by Switzerland's Johan Vonlanthen.

Rooney was reluctantly sold to United, ahead of interest from Newcastle, following the finals as he recovered from a broken foot suffered in the quarter-finals against Portugal.

And after bagging a hat-trick for United in his belated debut against Fenerbahce he became an instant hero.

A powerhouse performer, Rooney puts the fear of God into any defence he faces. With immense strength, a thunderbolt shot, pace and great vision he is the complete modern day forward.

He was first brought into the Everton squad for the pre-season friendlies prior to the start of the 2002/03 season. And Rooney was a revelation - despite still being only a 16-year-old.

The Academy graduate, who had been on the bench previously without featuring, netted eight goals in eight games in the FA Youth Cup in 2001/02.

On the club's tour of Austria he scored a hat-trick against SC Weiz and scored another pre-season treble against Queens Park less than a week later.

By this time Rooney had only four reserve team games under his belt, a measure of what would be a meteoric rise for the young forward.

Everton deputy chairman Bill Kenwright said in July 2002: 'I did a radio interview yesterday and I tried to play down Rooney, but you can't play down Rooney. How can you play down the greatest thing around in football?'

His Premiership debut came in a 2-2 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur on the opening day of the 2002/03 season - and Rooney created the first goal for Mark Pembridge.

His first ever goal came in October against Arsenal. The Gunners were looking to stretch their unbeaten run to 31 games when Rooney replaced Tomasz Radzinski for the final ten minutes.

Then, in the last minute, Rooney superbly controlled a long ball from Thomas Gravesen, turned, and fired an unstoppable shot in off the underside of the crossbar to win the game for Everton. The stuff of legend.

That goal made him the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Premiership - although that record would be eclipsed within a few weeks by Leeds United's James Milner.

Rooney's success in his inaugural senior season continued at international level when he was fast-tracked into the England team - becoming the youngest player to represent his country when he made his debut against Australia in February 2003 at the age of 17.

He then went on to become England's youngest ever goalscorer when netting against Macedonia in a Euro 2004 qualifier in September 2003.

Everton manager David Moyes continued to be protective of the star in 2003/04, although he did feature far more regularly in the side. Even so, a return of just nine Premiership goals hardly set the league alight.

If there is one question mark over Rooney its over his temperament, as is often the case with young stars. He picked up 12 yellow cards in 2003/04 - and was lucky not to be sent off against Leicester City.

He was selected for Euro 2004, and became one of the stars of the tournament, filling column inches around Europe with his powerful and skillful displays showing maturity beyond his years.

After bagging a brace against Iceland in the final warm-up game, he then terrorised teams in the finals.

He won a penalty against holders France, out-striping a world-class defender in Lilian Thuram before being felled by Mikael Silvestre.

Then he scored a brace against both Switzerland and Croatia in the group stages. But it was his all-round play, and not just his goals, that would catch the eye in Portugal.

His first against Switzerland made him the youngest goalscorer in European Championship history although, as in the Premiership, he lost that record within days to a Swiss player - Johan Vonlanthen.

Rooney's tournament ended in dismay against Portugal in the quarter-finals, when a seemingly innocuous challenge with Jorge Andrade resulted in the striker suffering an infamous metatarsal injury.

The broken foot ended the player's involvement in the 27th minute - an injury which would force him to miss the start of the 2004/05 Premiership season.

England lost to Portugal on penalties, and many believe that Sven Goran Eriksson's side would have progressed - and maybe even won the trophy - had Rooney remained fit.

After those outstanding performances at Euro 2004 it seemed inevitable that his time with Everton would come to an end.

Rooney had outgrown the club which nurtured him. Everton could not provide Champions League football and seemingly offered little other than an annual battle at the wrong end of the Premiership table.

Many suggested he would be better off in the protective bubble of Goodison Park, able to blossom away from the bright lights of European football and title battles before the big money move eventually came along.

In fact, Rooney would have stayed on Merseyside had it not been for the intervention of Newcastle United.

The media frenzy surrounding Rooney after Euro 2004 had put huge pressure on Everton, who were desperate for him to pen a new five-year contract which would net the star £50,000-a-week, to make him the highest paid player in the club's history.

But Rooney stalled on signing the new deal, and when Newcastle United began the bidding war there was little chance Everton would be able to hold onto him.

Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Newcastle were all linked with a summer swoop - although Everton at one stage slapped a mammoth £50million price tag on the player's head.

A few days before the transfer window closed in August 2004 it was the Magpies who made their move for the striker.

Although they were first to make a bid, as soon as Manchester United entered the fray there was little doubt about his eventual destination.

His exit from Everton after only two seasons in the first team squad caused much anger among the club's fans. But money talks, especially at a club deep in debt and desperate for an injection of cash.

Rooney moved to Old Trafford four hours before the deadline passed, for an guaranteed fee of £20million. There was additional £7million on the fee, made up of Rooney's appearances for United and England, the length of his stay at the club and the performance of the Red Devils at home and in Europe.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said: 'I've known his potential for a long time, but the way he has played in the last three years has been phenomenal. We could not afford to miss him.'

If his debut is anything to go by, the Rooney will become a United legend.

He was handed his bow in the Champions League clash with Fenerbahce on September 28 and scored a hat-trick of the highest order - the first of his career.

The first came as he ran on to a Ruud van Nistelrooy through-ball, the second when he shimmied past the challenged of Umit and arrowed a shot into the bottom corner and the third via a Beckham-esque free-kick.

A new hero had landed.

Rooney scored 11 goals in 24 Premiership starts in his first season at United, while not prolific was impressive considering he was coming back from injury. He scored 17 goals in all competitions.

But his suspect temperament hit the headlines in November 2004 when he had to be substituted after a series of over the top challenges in an international friendly against Spain in Madrid.

Though Eriksson was quick to play down the incident, it only served to heighten fears over how he would react in high-pressure situations.

He did only pick up six yellow cards for United in 2004/05 but the flare-ups still occurred in club football as well.

In September 2005, Rooney received his first red card in United colours. Straight after being booked in a Champions League group game, again in Spain, at Villarreal the player clapped the decision in the ref's face. Out came the second yellow and Rooney was off.

On the pitch, Rooney's all-round performances continued to improve making him a true world star. And he'd hit double figures in the Premiership before the turn of the year.

Rooney is certain to be vital to club and country for years to come. A true match-winner which every team craves.