Gary Neville says Wayne Rooney was the most exciting transfer ever made during his time at Manchester United.
The former England international played with a lot of top talent during his long career at the club, but none caused quite the same buzz as teenage sensation Rooney.
Rooney moved to United as an 18-year-old in the summer of 2004 and quickly settled into life at Old Trafford when he netted a hat-trick on his debut against Fenerbache.
The English forward would eventually become the record goalscorer in United history, and Neville has revealed just how much excitement his move from Everton caused at the time.
"In terms of the most exciting transfers, Wayne Rooney was No 1," Neville told Sky Sports.
"I’d played with him at England, and I knew what we were getting, a world-class player, fearless, horrible, goals, tackling, running, grit, and endeavour, everything you’d want in a player.
"When Ruud van Nistelrooy came, I remember us doing a shooting practice session at Carrington, and I remember him striking one from about 20 yards, and I thought: ‘Oh…. He can scores goals, this kid.’
"And I remember Ole walking into the changing room at the Cliff for the first time, in 1996, and he walks in with what I can only describe as a jumper from the 1970s in Yorkshire.
"Woollen, bobbly. I genuinely thought he was a competition winner from Norway. He looked about nine, he was so thin, and then after about a week in training we played a small-sided game, and he had this technique of being able to score in short spaces. He’d push the ball to the side and then stick it through your legs into the far corner. I thought: ‘He’s cleverer than he looks!’"
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