Geoff Shreeves has revealed Sir Alex Ferguson would “cut him to ribbons” if he ever tried to get a headline out of the Manchester United manager.
19.06.2024 - 16:09 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Former Manchester United boss David Moyes has admitted the covert tactics he deployed in a bid to keep Wayne Rooney at Everton.
Moyes, 61, was do desperate to keep hold of his gem that's he's admitted to shadowing the young star without his knowledge. The ex-Everton boss was determined to shield his prodigy from both the prying eyes of top clubs and the media, going to great lengths before Rooney's eventual transfer to Old Trafford in 2004.
Rooney - who made his first-team debut for Everton at just 16 - quickly attracted attention from the giants of English football. However, Moyes was not ready to concede defeat and took to stalking his own player to keep control over the situation.
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"Wayne probably doesn't know - well, he might know - I used to go everywhere Wayne was playing, nearly without him knowing," Moyes revealed on The Rest Is Football podcast (via the Liverpool Echo). "Made his debut for England, I was there. Without him knowing.
"When he broke his metatarsal, I was over in Portugal for the games out there [at Euro 2004]. And the papers were saying, 'Wayne is meeting on a yacht,' and I was f*****g raging. I was saying, 'Don't let anyone get near him. Don't let anybody near him.' Because I really wanted to keep him. You've got to remember, I was a young manager [at Everton]."
The Scot's efforts reflect his ambition to build something at Everton and use Rooney as the bedrock for his team. In the end, though, the allure of Old Trafford proved too tantalising.
There's no one-size-fits-all approach for managers
Geoff Shreeves has revealed Sir Alex Ferguson would “cut him to ribbons” if he ever tried to get a headline out of the Manchester United manager.
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