Wayne Rooney was a teenage phenomenon the likes of which we had never seen before in England when he burst onto the scene.
After a thrilling debut campaign with Everton, Manchester United swooped in to make him a key player for their next generation.
But according to Rooney, Chelsea had actually made the first move – although Rooney wasn’t keen on that move. He said he was “fuming” that his club had gone behind his back and discussed a transfer.
Wayne Rooney: "When the 2003/2004 season finished, Everton had tried to do a deal with #Chelsea for me, without me knowing. When I found out, I was fuming."
— Chels HQ (@Chels_HQ) December 6, 2022
At that time the Blues would have been an exciting prospect, given the Roman Abramovich cash had just arrived, but Jose Mourinho was yet to come and our Champions League credentials weren’t yet established.
It just shows the sheer ambition of those early Roman years, as the club looked to transform itself into a perennial contender.
As it turns out, we didn’t even need Rooney to do that in the end.
