Former England striker Wayne Rooney has revealed that he received death threats after leaving his boyhood club, Everton, to join Manchester United in 2004.
Rooney, then 18, moved to the Red Devils in a £27 million deal after turning down a club-record contract from Everton, sparking outrage among some Toffees supporters.
In an interview on the latest episode of BBC Sport’s The Wayne Rooney Show, Rooney said:
“I got death threats. My parents’ house was getting spray-painted and smashed up. My girlfriend at the time, wife now, had her house getting spray-painted. I think that’s where you have to be mentally strong. The people around you have to help. Leaving was difficult because I went to Manchester United, Liverpool, and Manchester was a big rivalry, so that made it a lot more difficult. But I was always of a mindset of ‘I don’t care’. I knew what I wanted, and I knew how to get there. I had to stay tough in my mind. This was people from my city, so it was tough, but I thought ‘I don’t care’, you have to be selfish and make these decisions.”
Rooney also reflected on his oldest son, Kai, who is currently in Manchester United’s youth setup. He stressed the importance of a strong support network for young players facing public scrutiny, especially in the age of social media.
“Now the difference is social media. When I was young, I was in the local newspapers, and everyone in Liverpool really knew me. Now I have it with my boy, who’s 16, and he’s on social media. He plays for United, he’s sponsored by Puma, and there are hundreds of thousands or millions of people watching them when they’re that young, and I didn’t have that really. Being a young player and going into the first team, especially, you’re getting judged. Rightly or wrongly, you get judged, and that’s where you need the people around you, people at the club or your family, to keep you in a good place. We can all get carried away with social media as well. So it’s really important that the people who are close to you have your best interests. It’s the main thing.”
