Wayne Rooney

Wayne Mark Rooney is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Birmingham City. Widely considered one of the best players of his generation, Rooney is the record goalscorer for Manchester United, and was the record goalscorer for the England national team from 2015 to 2023. He has also made more appearances for England than any other outfield player. Rooney spent most of his playing career as a forward, but was also used in various midfield roles. Rooney joined the Everton youth team at the age of nine and made his professional debut for the club in 2002 at the age of 16. He spent two seasons at the Merseyside club before moving to Manchester United for £25.6 million in the 2004 summer transfer window, where he won 16 trophies and became the only English player, alongside teammate Michael Carrick, to win the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, League Cup, UEFA Europa League, and FIFA Club World Cup. He scored 253 goals for United in all competitions, making him the club's top goalscorer of all time; his 183 Premier League goals for United is the third-most scored by a player in that competition for any single club, behind only Harry Kane (188 goals for Tottenham Hotspur) and Sergio Agüero (184 goals for Manchester City). Rooney's 208 Premier League goals make him that competition's third-highest scorer of all time. He also has the third-highest number of assists in the Premier League, with 103. Rooney made his senior international debut for England in February 2003, aged 17, and is England's youngest-ever goalscorer. He played at UEFA Euro 2004 and scored four goals, briefly becoming the youngest goalscorer in the history of the European Championship. Rooney later featured at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cups, and was widely regarded as his country's best player. He has won the England Player of the Year award four times, in 2008, 2009, 2014, and 2015. With 53 goals in 120 international caps, Rooney is England's second-most-capped player (behind Peter Shilton) and second-top goalscorer. Rooney won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year awards for the 2009–10 season, and he has won the Premier League Player of the Month award five times throughout his career. He came fifth in the vote for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, and he was named in the FIFA FIFPro World XI for 2011. He won the Goal of the Season award by the BBC's Match of the Day poll on three occasions, and his February 2011 bicycle kick against city rivals Manchester City won the Premier League 20 Seasons Awards Best Goal award.