Sir Alex Ferguson reveals Manchester United didn't sign Wayne Rooney as a goalscorer

Record-breaker: Rooney equalled Charlton's tally against San Marino on Saturday
Tom Dutton5 September 2015

Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted he never saw Wayne Rooney as an 'out and out' striker when he signed the England international 11 years ago.

Rooney, who equalled Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time England scoring record in Saturday's victory over San Marino, moved to Old Trafford from Everton for £27million following an impressive camapign at Euro 2004.

The England international scored four goals in Portugal but Ferguson has revealed he signed Rooney because of his outstanding talent and never anticipated the forward breaking goalscoring records.

“I would never have thought that, we didn’t recognise him as an out and out goalscorer, the evidence wasn’t there – he looked an outstanding footballer and that was the main reason we wanted him,” Ferguson told ITV Sport.

(Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

“It’s impossible not to recognise the impact Sir Bobby has on players – any time he came into the dressing room he’d have a word with Wayne and he’d appreciate it,” he added.

“This humble man, bald headed you’d say to yourself “is he a footballer?”

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