Wayne Rooney was one of the most successful players in world football, not just the English Premier League. Yet it seems that even within his own country, he isn’t getting the appraisal of a footballer that brought so many excellent memories that has made Manchester United the most prestigious and supported football club across the globe.

Firstly, there isn’t a football fan out there that hasn’t heard the name Wayne Rooney before. In his illustrious career, he has won 5 Premier League trophies, an FA Cup, a UEFA Champions League, a Club World Cup, a Europa League and three League Cups. Not only that but he holds the record for the top goal scorer at Manchester United, as well as the second most Premier League goals and third most Premier League assists. Will anyone actually have a career like this in the Premier League? Can his accomplishments be beaten? It’s highly doubtful, but you can check out the odds on premier league betting, where there are a number of special bets you can place on these trophies and competitions.

Wayne Rooney – The Unsung Hero

Amongst United fans, Wayne Rooney is still very much at the forefront of their minds if you ask them who the best strikers their club has ever had are. However it seems if you ask neutral football fans who they think the best premier league strikers are of all time, Rooney doesn’t seem to be a name on their lips. Instead, players that pop up more frequently in these sorts of conversations are the likes of Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry,  Sergio Aguero, and many more. Rightly so, these should all be getting a mention, however where does Wayne Rooney sit in this list? In our opinion, he goes right to the top.

Rooney made his first appearance for Everton, back in 2002 at such a young age, only 16 years-old. This was in a league cup match where he managed an assist. However his name really came into the spotlight on his premier league debut, where he scored an absolute belter to secure a 2-1 win over Arsenal. It wasn’t long before all the top clubs were after the signature of this young promising star. 

In 2004, Rooney signed for Manchester United, for a fee of £27 Million, at just the age of 18. At the time of the signing, it was a huge sum for such a young player, but it didn’t take long for everyone to forget about the huge price tag as he scored a hattrick in his first ever game for the reds. Then the rest is history.

Arguably one of the reasons as to why some people forget about Wayne Rooney in the list of all-time world class strikers is due to the lack of International success. It seems that not only Rooney, but the whole England squad at the time failed to get much success and actually infuriated many of their supporters, as they seemed to have some of the best players on paper, but could not seem to put out a good performance together on the pitch. Many say this is down to the fierce club rivalries they had with each other, it made it hard for them to gel as a team because they knew as soon as they went back to club football, there was a lot of tension and competition between them.

Big Names At United

Throughout Wayne Rooney’s time at Manchester United, there were always huge stars that perhaps stole the limelight a bit from Rooney. Rooney was always a consistent player and most importantly a team player. He was never always controversial as he was devoted to Manchester United, unlike a lot of stars who came and went. This could have perhaps made people underestimate Rooney and forget just how good he was.

With names such as Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, Robin Van Persie, Falcao, Ibrahimovic and many more all coming and going at Manchester United, a lot of pundits and fans had their focus on their successes instead of the one player who remained there for the longest time out of all of them and provided the most success to the club, Wayne Rooney. At the time he may have been heavily underappreciated by his own fans, but his name is now one of the only ones that remains to be sung around Old Trafford.

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