Alan Shearer has stated that Newcastle United made a surprising move to sign one of the world’s top attackers from Manchester United.
Although Shearer was a top striker for Newcastle at the time, they were eager to add another star player, one of the game’s most intriguing young prospects, to their attack.
Shearer asserted on The Rest Is Football podcast that, during the start of Wayne Rooney’s Old Trafford tenure, Newcastle had “definitely” made an offer for the player from Man United.
Rooney had only really just begun his career when he joined with Man United at the age of 18, when he was already regarded as one of the best players in the Premier League, while Shearer was nearing the conclusion of his.
On the show, Lineker asked: “Is that true, do you know if Newcastle did put a bid in?”
Shearer responded: “Yeah they did. I don’t know how serious it was, the old chairman at the time Freddie Shepherd, his son was involved in the agency so whether it was to speed a new contract up, I don’t know.
“But Newcastle did put a bid in for him when he was at Man United. Definitely a bid went it for him. It would have been great but I don’t think realistically it was ever going to happen.”
Considering how many trophies he had won under Sir Alex Ferguson, Rooney will be quite appreciative of the choice he made, but if he had joined Tyneside, things may have turned out very differently for him.
Newcastle will always wonder what could have been since Rooney was a unique player with generational talent who swept the league and will go down as one of England’s best ever players.
Rooney went on to become Man United’s all time top goal scorer, going past the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton. The former England international became a part of one of the most successful teams in English football history under Sir Alex Ferguson.