Rooney DID ask to leave United in summer... and his agent also put in transfer request

Rooney DID ask to leave United in summer... and his agent also put in transfer request

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Wayne Rooney asked to leave Manchester United at the end of last season, also revealing that the request was repeated by his agent Paul Stretford. 
In his new autobiography, the former Manchester United manager also writes of how Rooney struggles to remain in peak condition compared to players like Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo.

And there is an indirect criticism of England manager Roy Hodgson for allowing Rooney to go on holiday a week before last year’s European Championship.
Once United get going they'll be fine

Ups and downs: Sir Alex Ferguson and Wayne Rooney had a mixed time together at Manchester United

Ending: Despite a turbulent time together, they finished their public relationship with an embrace at Old Trafford

Plead: Rooney and his agent Paul Stretford (above) asked for a move at the end of last season

Soured: Disagreements on where the club was going and Rooney's role in the side led to transfer requests

Meaty: FErguson devoted a whole chapter of his autobiography to Rooney

On that transfer request at the end of last season - an incident Rooney’s official spokesperson has consistently denied - Ferguson writes: ‘He came into my office the day after we won the league and asked away. He wasn’t happy with being left out for some games and subbed in others. His agent Paul Stretford phoned David Gill with the same message.’
Speaking in October, Rooney said that he had to be 'selfish' under Ferguson because of the disagreements over where best to deploy the England striker.
‘I didn’t feel like I got a consistent run of games up front,’ Rooney said. ‘I actually felt when I played in midfield I did OK, but I didn’t want to play there.
‘Everyone at the club knew that’s where I wanted to play (up front) and that’s why I was disappointed because I got told to play in midfield and I didn’t want to. But I’d always go in and try to help the team, so I think there had to come a point where for my own career I had to be a bit selfish.
‘There’s been a lot of stuff happening and people waiting for me to say whatever, but I’ve spoken to the people who matter at the club and we’ve known ourselves what we’re doing. I’m sure the club made that clear. I didn’t want to come out saying anything.'

Sir Alex Ferguson: Once United get going they'll be fine

'Listen, I've just told you!' Rooney reacts to ITV grilling

Delivered: Manchester United signed Wayne Rooney for £30m from Everton in 2004 at the third attempt

Dumbfounded: David Gill and Ferguson could not believe Rooney's actions

Ferguson admitted to being 'dumfounded' at the player's actions when the first transfer request was lodged in 2010.
'I couldn't understand it at all because only months before he'd said he was at the biggest club in the world and he wanted to stay for life. We just don't know what's changed the boy's mind. David (Gill) was shocked, I was shocked,' Ferguson said three years ago.
'I had a meeting with the boy and he reiterated what his agent had said. He wanted to go. I said to him, "Just remember one thing: respect this club. I don't want any nonsense from you, respect your club".
'What we're seeing now in the media is disappointing because we've done everything we can for Wayne Rooney, since the minute he's come to the club. We've always been there as a harbour for him. Any time he's been in trouble, the advice we've given him... I've even been prepared to give him financial advice, many times.'

Fine: Rooney, Darron Gibson (left) and Jonny Evans were sanctioned for a night out in Southport hours before training. Rooney was left out of United's next match

Criticism: Ferguson felt it was wrong that England boss Roy Hodgson let Rooney have a holiday before Euro 2012

Away: Rooney took a week in Las Vegas before the tournament

The 71-year-old confirmed that the club tried to sign Rooney at the age of 14 and 16 before landing him after a blistering start to his Premier League career at Goodison Park.
Ferguson also says he left his successor David Moyes to resolve the situation with the 27-year-old, but in the same ‘Rooney’ chapter he also reflects on an incident in the winter of 2011 when he had to take disciplinary action against the England star.
Ferguson confirms that Rooney joined team-mates Jonny Evans and Darron Gibson on a night out in a Southport hotel and was enraged to discover them ‘weary’ in training the next day. He said they were fined a week’s wages and dropped for their next game against Blackburn, which United lost.
On Rooney’s fitness issues Ferguson talks of how the player needs ‘to be careful’ and states that his qualities as a player can be ‘swallowed up by a lack of fitness’. He then adds that it was ‘not wise’ for England to let him take a holiday at a time when he was recovering from injury before Euro 2012 because he might ‘lose his edge’.
Ferguson also says that last season he noted how Rooney was struggling to beat opponents because he had ‘lost some of his old thrust’. 

Flier: Rooney began his United career in rampant fashion, scoring 17 goals in his first season

Thrust: Ferguson said Rooney started to lose some of the edge he once enjoyed last season

Rooney is credited in the book with smoothing over a difficult partnership with Ronaldo in 2006 after the Portuguese became public enemy No 1 in England.
There was a brief possibility that Rooney and Ronaldo could never have played together again after a serious breakdown in relationship after the latter winked following the Englishman's sending off during the World Cup quarter-final.
Ferguson hints that Ronaldo could have left the club - saying that they in a Portugal villa where he told the winger that 'walking away isn't courage'. The ex-boss believes Rooney kept the superstar at the club after a phone call helped smooth things over.
Rooney even suggested that the pair take part in a joint interview to show they were united, but that never came to fruition.

Flashpoint: Cristiano Ronaldo helped get Rooney sent off in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final

Credit: Rooney is said to be the reason Ronaldo stayed at United after the World Cup wink threatened to end his career in England

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