What Paul Scholes did in secret for Sir Alex Ferguson to help Man Utd sign Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney joined Manchester United in 2004 in a £27million transfer from Everton and went on to become the Red Devils' all-time leading goalscorer during his 13-year spell at the club

Paul Scholes has revealed a behind-the-scenes story about how his phone call to Wayne Rooney may have proved pivotal in Sir Alex Ferguson's successful bid to sign him.

On the latest episode of the Football's Greatest podcast, which he co-hosts with former team-mate Nicky Butt, Scholes shared how he played an unexpected part in bringing Rooney to Manchester United in a blockbuster £27million move from Everton back in 2004.

Scholes, 49, recounted how Ferguson enlisted his help to woo Rooney, who had caught the manager's eye just a year after Cristiano Ronaldo joined the Red Devils.

"I was a small part of that actually because we played with Wayne for England and the manager asked me to ring him," revealed Scholes. "The manager sent me his phone number and [said] 'I want to sign him', I rang him at home, it's weird because I never spoke to him before, I'd only seen him for a day at England.

"I said 'Wazza it's Scholesy, the gaffer really wants you, he's desperate to sign you, what do you think? 'He said 'Yeah, yeah, yeah I'd love to come', straight away," reports the Manchester Evening News.

Rooney's transfer proved to be a masterstroke as he hit the ground running at Old Trafford, netting 17 goals in his debut season. His illustrious career at United spanned 13 years, during which he became the club's all-time leading scorer with 253 goals in 559 appearances, overtaking fellow club icon Sir Bobby Charlton.

Despite sharing a trophy-laden nine years with the Red Devils, Rooney and Scholes once found themselves at odds. The tension surfaced in 2014 when Scholes hinted that Rooney might be past his prime, following a new five-year deal being handed to the then-United captain under boss Louis van Gaal.

Rooney didn't take kindly to the remarks, suggesting they could ruffle feathers at the club. "I'm sure he's upset a lot of people at Man United because they see me as worthy of signing a new deal at the club, so they obviously have got a different opinion to what Paul has," the former striker said.

"It was a bit strange, I'll be honest, but he has his opinions and he's entitled to them," he continued. "I don't agree with it, but he's probably the best player I've ever played with, so I'm not going to knock him as a player, but I don't agree with his point. I'm sure he has his reasons for it."

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