Former England international Wayne Rooney has disclosed that he got death threats from Everton fans after he made a move to Manchester United in 2004.
Aged 18, Rooney signed for the Red Devils in a £27m deal in 2004 after turning down a club record contract offer from boyhood club Everton.
Speaking on the latest episode of BBC’s The Wayne Rooney Show, the 40-year-old, who ended his career as the club’s leading goal scorer, said that he needed to have immense mental strength to deal with such actions and was clear about what he wanted in his career.
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“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 said on the latest episode of BBC Sport’s The Wayne Rooney Show.
