Wayne Rooney

Wayne Mark Rooney /ˈruːni/ (born 24 October 1985) is an English footballer who plays for and captains both Manchester United and the England national team. He commonly plays as a forward.

Aged nine, Rooney joined the youth team of Everton, for whom he made his professional début in 2002 at the age of 16. He spent two seasons at the Merseyside club, before moving to Manchester United for £25.6 million in the 2004 summer transfer window. Since then, with Rooney in the team, United have won the Premier League five times, the UEFA Champions League once, the FIFA Club World Cup once and the League Cup twice. In September 2013, Rooney scored his 200th goal for United. He is currently on 219 goals, making him the club's third-highest goalscorer of all time.

Rooney made his senior international debut in February 2003 aged 17, becoming the youngest player to represent England (a record since broken by Theo Walcott) and he is England's youngest ever goalscorer. He played at UEFA Euro 2004 and scored four goals, briefly becoming the youngest goalscorer in the history of the European Championship. Rooney has since featured at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cups and is widely regarded as his country's best player. He has won the England Player of the Year award twice, in 2008 and 2009. As of November 2014, he has won 101 international caps and scored 46 goals, making him England's ninth most-capped player and third-highest goalscorer in history. Along with David Beckham, Rooney is the most red carded player for England, having been sent off twice.

In 2009–10, Rooney was awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year. He has won the Premier League Player of the Month award five times, a record he shares with Steven Gerrard. He came fifth in the vote for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or and was named in the FIFPro World 11 for 2011. Rooney has won the 'Goal of the Season' award by the BBC's Match of the Day poll on three occasions, with his bicycle kick against rivals Manchester City winning the 'Premier League Goal of the 20 Seasons' award. A March 2012 report listed Rooney as the fifth highest-paid player in the world, with an annual income of $32.6 million.

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