CELEBRITY
WAYNE ROONEY WANTED TO TEAM UP WITH MESSI 10 YEARS AGO
Former England captain and Manchester United player, Wayne Rooney has opened up on how close he came to moving to Spain when his time at Manchester United looked all but over in 2010.
Rooney rocked United and manager Sir Alex Ferguson by handing in a transfer request in 2010 and was ready to leave Old Trafford, putting their Premier League rivals and Europe’s elite on alert.
And Rooney has admitted that, for a couple of days at least, he was looking at Barcelona’s setup under Pep Guardiola and imagining how he would fit ‘perfectly’ in that all-conquering side with players such as Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.
In a report by UK’s Daily Mail, Rooney remarked: “’In my head, at the time, in that two-day period, I was ready to go and play in Spain,’ Rooney told the United podcast.
‘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.
‘I remember sitting down for one day and thinking “imagine playing in that Barcelona team – Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and 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. I remember thinking about that.’
Rooney admitted that in terms of Premier League rivals, Chelsea and Manchester City were leading the chase for his signature.
‘I think it was well documented that Chelsea and Mourinho wanted to sign me,’ Rooney said.
‘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.’
As it was, Rooney decided to remain at United. He signed a new five-year contract and stayed until 2017 – and eventually worked under Mourinho at the club – before later rejoining his boyhood side Everton.
Upon signing the terms that saw him remain at Old Trafford in 2010, Rooney cited Ferguson’s influence.
‘I said on Wednesday the manager’s a genius and it’s his belief and support that convinced me to stay,’ he explained.
n recent weeks, Rooney has opened up on his relationship with Ferguson and how, for all their successes together, he was dismayed over the legendary manager’s approach to the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals.
‘We lost two Champions League finals going toe-to-toe with Guardiola’s Barcelona, by trying to press high and get round them, which was suicidal,’ Rooney wrote earlier this year in his Sunday Times column.
‘I remember Alex Ferguson saying “we’re Man United and we’re going to attack, it’s in the culture of this football club” and thinking “I’m not too sure about this”.
‘I think all the players knew, deep down, it was the wrong approach, that we were abandoning the way that had brought us success in that 2008 semi-final — and sure enough both times we got outplayed.
‘There is being true to the club, but then there’s sitting back afterwards and thinking “we lost”.’
Rooney has otherwise been effusive in his praise of Ferguson and underlined how much he relished working with the Scot at United.
Together, they won five Premier League titles at United and the Champions League in 2008.
Speaking to Sportsmail in 2018, Rooney said: ‘I was in a dressing room with Gary Neville and Roy Keane. I was 19 having rows with Gary, even with Alex Ferguson. That’s how it should be.
‘Sir Alex was really clever like that. He knew who he could have a go at, who it was best to leave alone. He always knew it brought the best out of me. It wouldn’t work with Nani.’
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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