---
title: "“Remember the name: Wayne Rooney”"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/remember-the-name-wayne-rooney/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Alex Rigby"
section: "Everton"
published: "2019-03-20T08:00:58Z"
modified: "2019-03-20T08:00:58Z"
---

# “Remember the name: Wayne Rooney”

**“Remember the name: Wayne Rooney” were the immortalised words of Clive Tyldesley about 16-year-old legend-to-be Wayne Rooney who scored one of the greatest Goodison Park goals ever seen.**

Wayne Rooney was one of those players so young it had people even slightly above his age questioning their existence – ‘he is scoring screamers against a legendary Arsenal side, what am I doing?’

Indeed, it is rare that you get players stepping into the game of his quality nowadays; youthful unpredictability a far greater risk than fielding established talent in the increasingly money-driven world of modern Premier League football.

Which is what made Wayne Rooney so utterly special. A 16-year-old bursting onto the scene in such emphatic style, with enough confidence and arrogance to consider himself the best player at the club, even at such a young age.

“At the time, at 16, I remember looking around the Everton first team and knowing I was the best player. I felt that,” he told fellow footballing great Alan Shearer (*as per the [official Premier League website](https://www.premierleague.com/news/880260)*).

And he was Really, if not a little rough around the edges.

It is not often that one of the greatest managers in modern football declares his admiration for a player, but that is exactly what Arsene Wenger did following the rocket that ended his sides 30-game unbeaten run.

“Rooney is the biggest England talent I’ve seen since I arrived in England,” the Frenchman said at the time (*[BBC Sport](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/2343809.stm)*).

“There has certainly not been a player under 20 as good as him since I became a manager here…

You do not need to be an expert to see that he is a special talent, very special.”

Indeed, he possessed the industrious and desire of a young man desperate to make his name; an insatiable diet for all things football – like an excitable dog who has been thrown a stick for the first time, he chased and chased with such admirable persistent.

It was only a matter of time before the top four came knocking, and Wayne Rooney made his big move in *2004* to Manchester United where he remained to make history scoring 253 goals.