It may have happened two decades ago, but Wayne Rooney’s Manchester United breakthrough still leaves legends speechless.
The club’s top scoring player of all-time remembered as one of the best players England ever produced and that was clear right from the start.
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Bursting onto the scene with Everton in 2002, United won the race to sign him in 2004, paying £27million for him and his new teammates knew they had an immense talent on their hands immediately.
Off the back of a fantastic Euro 2004, Rooney kept the hype going and got his chance when given his United debut – in the Champions League.
Manager Alex Ferguson knew how good Rooney already was at 18 years old and put him in the starting line up against Turkish side Fenerbahce.
With 17 minutes on the clock Rooney had his first of a record breaking 253 goals, and by half time at Old Trafford he’d scored two.
His new colleagues were undoubtedly stunned in the home dressing room at the break, but what happened next took things to a completely different level.
Eight minutes after the break, Fenerbahce pulled one back to make it 3-1 and it was up to Ryan Giggs to finish them off with a free-kick in a prime position.
At least that was what everyone thought.
Instead, Rooney told his teammate, with 700 appearances to his name and a string of honours that he was taking it, which he did to bring up his hat-trick.
Defender Rio Ferdinand had a prime view on the pitch and recalled on his YouTube channel: “He told Giggs ‘get off the free kick.’ That kind of confidence is not normal.
“He walked into Manchester United at Old Trafford where Ryan Giggs is the don, has got the most Premier League medals, the most Premier League appearances and the free kick is there to be hit.
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“And he scores a hat-trick, and you’ve got [striker] Ruud van Nistelrooy by the way – who’s the goalscoring king at the time in the Premier League – having to take a back seat to this kid now.”
United won the game 6-2 and Rooney ended the season with a then career best 17 goals.
Even new teammate Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t have such a fine start to his career before becoming a legend, but for Rooney it was just a natural progression.
Giving his take on the moment that shocked Europe, Rooney recalled: “I remember just thinking ‘I’m ready’.
“I’d come off the back of Euro 2004 where I’d done well. I spoke to the manager the weekend before when we were playing Middlesborough and I was desperate to be on the bench.
“He said ‘Just wait, you’re going to start against Fenerbahce in the Champions League’ and I remember thinking ‘I can’t wait, I’m ready’.
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“I believed and I was confident that I was going to score. Did I think I was going to score three? No.”
And on the free-kick itself, Rooney admitted Giggs didn’t stand a chance.
“There wasn’t a conversation, I just said ‘Giggsy I’m taking it’,” Rooney remembered with a laugh.
“I fancied it, I’ve always had that bit of cheekiness about me where if you want something you’ve got to go and take it.”
Such heights can often overwhelm a young player, but Rooney just kept taking things higher to become a Premier League and England great.
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And for Ferdinand, it wasn’t just about his ability.
“He never got carried away with it, that’s another thing, [he was] humble, never was ‘the big I am’,” his former teammate explained.
“He would sacrifice so much of his game to allow Cristiano to be Cristiano or to allow [Carlos] Tevez to do what he wanted to do or to allow Nani to do something, chasing the fullback and smashing them into the stands.”
For Rooney, there was another explanation for his professionalism and tireless workrate.
“I think the big thing for me was going to Manchester United as a Scouser,” he said, explaining that his Liverpudlian roots could have been an issue.
“I knew I had to impress, somehow I had to leave an impact on the game and get the fans to like me.”