Captain fantastic Wayne Rooney
Transient but a defining spell: At The Goodison Park
He goes by the name Wayne Rooney. He commenced his football career at the age of 9 with Everton football academy. He got his first senior break-through at the age 17 , but as an unused substitute.
Actual game that he played, was against the invincible Arsenal, where he opened his goal scoring account and simultaneously broken the Gunners' 30 match unbeaten run. Soon, he became everyone’s darling.Surely, he is blessed with natural instincts for football, which has been glorifying him since then.
Initially, everybody raised eyebrows for the reason that he does not have a football demanding physicality, however, soon he proved everyone wrong. His football vision has been sufficing to fulfill the goal scoring needs. His astounding on-field performance had garnered him opulent amount of praises from many clubs, including Newcastle United and Manchester United and many more.
It was the end of 2002-03 season when he applied for transfer request, where Manchester United beat Newcastle United in the race of signing.
Over his short period at Everton, he won a couple of awards such as Young Player of year award etc. He would be thankful to Everton for giving him a platform to show the world, who Wayne Rooney is.
Second spell: At Old Trafford
It was the year of 2004, when Manchester United’s scouts laid their eyes on Wayne Rooney and signed him from Everton as one of the most successful transfers in the history of Old Trafford.
Albeit, Manchester United had tried to sign him twice in the past when Wayne Rooney was 14 and 16 years old, but then, he had Evertonian blood. The transfer got procrastinated for a couple of years due to unwillingness of his to leave the then incumbent Everton.
But eventually, they sealed the deal in 2004. Back then, nobody had imagined that, a lad from Everton would become a paragon for the upcoming players and would get the tag of a legend at the theatre of dreams. Players come and go, but there a few, who leave their indelible mark, and Wayne Rooney is, unequivocally, among them.
He possesses a gift of producing great moments in a game, be it his debut goal goal against Arsenal, or his overhead kick against Manchester city, or his mind-boggling half line pass to Robin Van Persie against Aston Villa. He metamorphoses himself as per the game, no matter what position it demands. Hence, it would not be irrational to say that he is quite a player, that every team thrives to get the service of.
Not only he is a menacing striker, but at the same time he quite capable of working in the midfield as well. Besides being the skipper at Old Trafford, he wears the captain’s armband for his national team too. He fulfills all the qualities of a captain, even between the games he makes sure that the morale of the team does not plummet.
Currently, he is the 3rd leading goal scorer after Bobby Charlton and Denis Law for the club. And the day is not far when he will surpass Sir Bobby Charlton's record.
Air of bitterness between the management and Rooney-
In the past, quantum of rumours rose, concerning spats between the management and Rooney, due to which he desired to part ways. However, the differences had been sorted out. But out of this caustic air, the supporters vented out their displeasure over the incident and i think, it is obvious from the fans ,who have been supporting the club for decades, to lacerate players for disloyality.
Especially, when they have witnessed the loyalties of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. Thus, it is alien for them to see a Man United player agitating for a transfer move. Although, after this spat, he got the increment, which made him the highest paid footballer in the country. But it can not be concluded that he did all this just to get his wages high, which many people thought as revealed by Sir Alex Ferguson in his autobiography.
In the 2012-13 season, after the arrival of Robin Van Persie, everybody thought Wayne Rooney's presence will be subdued, which did not happen. He is still an important player and he will be, at Old Trafford. It reminds me of an analogy of Bruce Wayne (Batman) and Robin, where Batman is still Batman, no matter who comes in. The story is same with Wayne Rooney .
However, he is playing more of an attacking midfielder, a little behind Robin Van Persie.
The bottom line:
Wayne Rooney, categorically, is one of the best players. His services have been significant to Manchester United, which helped the club to knock Liverpool off the perch. He has many playing-years ahead, where he can refine or escalate his performance further.
Nonetheless, if a player like Wayne Rooney leaves a club, supporters would get shattered for obvious reasons. Let us just hope that it does not happen in the future and he continues to be a Manchester United player.