England star Jadon Sancho has told of how he grew up idolising Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney, amid speculation linking him with a move to Old Trafford.
The Borussia Dortmund forward is a transfer target as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looks to bolster his attacking options, with United favourites to secure his signature this summer.
Sancho was brought up in London before joining Manchester City’s youth set-up in 2015, but it was Rooney, who plied his trade in the red half of the city after joining from Everton as a teenager, that caught his eye.
“Who did I look up to when I was young? I'd probably say Rooney,” he said in a video on England's social media channels. “It'd have to be Rooney because he was doing madness at Man United, even at Everton when he made his debut.
“He was too grown for everyone, at his age."
Like Sancho, Rooney was rated among the hottest prospects in European football before signing for United and went on to become both the club’s and England’s all-time leading goalscorer. The pair briefly played together for England during a friendly win over the USA in 2018, a game honouring Rooney's international career.
