Rooney Hands in Transfer Request

By Matthew Jones
August 27 2004

Newcastle and Manchester United target Wayne Rooney has handed in a transfer request at Everton - as he seeks move his career forward.

Rooney explained:

"This has been one of the hardest decisions of my life but I feel the time is now right for me to move forward with my career.

"The Euros were a fantastic experience for me, it made me realise I could play at the highest level.

"To do that, I need to be with a club that is playing in Europe every year. I hope the Everton fans can come to understand my decision and I hope the transfer fee Everton Football Club receive will help the club move forward. 

"The Everton fans have always been fantastic in their support of me.

"I hope they respect my decision and I also hope that, some day in the future, I could be welcomed back to watch the team I have supported since boyhood."

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is still hopeful of landing Rooney and said:

"It is as it was yesterday. David Gill is in dialogue with Bill Kenwright.

"It only takes a second to say 'yes'.

"The difficulty is getting the medicals but, at the moment, it is not at the stage where we are talking about it.

"We are waiting for an agreement before doing anything else."