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Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney revealed that there were three clubs that he could have left for during his time at Old Trafford.
The Englishman, who holds the distinction of being the Red Devils' all-time highest goalscorer, was one of the finest players in Premier League history. Rooney remains the only player to score over 200 goals and register over 100 assists in the English top-flight. However, there were moments during which his future at Manchester United was uncertain, and he even handed in a transfer request in 2010.
While he could have realistically left Manchester United during that period, Rooney ended up remaining at the club and creating history for England's most decorated club.
Ex-Manchester United Rooney opens up on interest from other clubs
Speaking on the clubs that he could have potentially joined during his time at Manchester United, Rooney revealed;
"I think it was well documented that Chelsea and [Jose] Mourinho wanted to sign me. There was Real Madrid, Barcelona and the Man City thing keeps cropping up, but there was never the option for me to go there. Although there were rumours on that as well, but the other three, really, were more realistic options."
The Derby County man revealed that he'd made up his mind to ply his trade in Spain for a brief period, saying,
"In my head, at the time, in that two-day period, I was ready to go and play in Spain. Ideally, I would have liked to have gone to Barcelona, but it was looking more likely to be Real Madrid than Barcelona. Chelsea were always there as well."
Rooney also spoke about how he thought he could have slotted in perfectly at the tip of the famous Barcelona side under now-Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. He said,
"To be honest, it was two or three days where there was communication between myself and them, or my representatives and team."
"I remember sitting down for one day and thinking 'imagine playing in that Barcelona team – [Leo] Messi, Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta and [Sergio] Busquets'. And at that time Messi wasn’t playing the way he plays now, as a No.9 for instance. He was out wide. I was thinking I could have slotted in perfectly. I could have come to the ball as well and have players running in behind."
Understandably, talks of a potential move away for Rooney were not received well by the Manchester United supporters, who conducted protests and made their opinions clear of wanting the legendary Englishman to remain at the club. Speaking about when he changed his mind and decided to stay at the club, the 35-year-old said,
"After a couple of days, I spoke to David Gill again and when there were those protests at my house, I’d actually already agreed to sign the new contract by that time. I was thinking 'Jesus', it was three o’clock in the morning and I didn’t fancy going out to calm down 20 or 30 lads with their hoods up!"
The former Manchester United star is currently the captain and interim manager for Derby County in the Championship.
