Page 154 - Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography

I told him that to say we weren’t ambitious was nonsense.
Wayne said that we should have pursued Mesut Özil, who had joined Real Madrid from Werder
Bremen. My reply was that it was none of his business who we should have gone for. I told him it
was his job to play and perform. My job was to pick the correct teams. And so far I had been getting

it right.
We had a European tie the following day. Two hours before we played Bursaspor, on 20 October,
Wayne issued the following statement: ‘I met with David Gill last week and he did not give me any of
the assurances I was seeking about the future squad. I then told him that I would not be signing a new
contract. I was interested to hear what Sir Alex had to say yesterday and surprised by some of it.
‘It is absolutely true, as he said, that my agent and I have had a number of meetings with the club
about a new contract. During those meetings in August I asked for assurances about the continued

ability of the club to attract the top players in the world.
‘I have never had anything but complete respect for MUFC. How could I not have done, given its
fantastic history and especially the last six years in which I have been lucky to play a part?
‘For me its all about winning trophies – as the club has always done under Sir Alex. Because of
that I think the questions I was asking were justified.
‘Despite recent difficulties, I know I will always owe Sir Alex Ferguson a huge debt. He is a great

manager and mentor who has helped and supported me from the day he signed me from Everton when
I was only 18.
‘For Manchester United’s sake I wish he could go on forever because he’s a one-off and a genius.’
I wasn’t sure what he meant by this statement but I assumed he was trying to build some bridges
with me and the fans. I hoped it meant he’d changed his mind and was happy to stay with us.
The press conference after that game, when all the media were there, gave me an opportunity to say
what I wanted to say, which was that Wayne was out of order.

I told the press: ‘As I said, three Premier League titles in a row is fantastic and we were within one
point off a record fourth. It didn’t happen for us and we didn’t like that and we want to do something
about it. We’ll be OK – I’ve got every confidence in that. We have a structure at the club which is
good, we have the right staff, the right manager, the right chief executive, he’s a brilliant man. There’s
nothing wrong with Manchester United, not a thing wrong with it. So we’ll carry on.’
And I said on television: ‘I had a meeting with the boy and he reiterated what his agent had said.

He wanted to go. I said to him, “Just remember one thing: respect this club. I don’t want any nonsense
from you, respect your club.” What we’re seeing now in the media is disappointing because we’ve
done everything we can for Wayne Rooney, since the minute he’s come to the club. We’ve always
been there as a harbour for him. Any time he’s had a problem, we’ve given advice. But you do that for
all your players, not just Wayne Rooney. That’s Manchester United. This is a club which bases all its
history and its tradition on the loyalty and trust between managers and players and the club. That goes
back to the days of Sir Matt Busby. That’s what it’s founded on. Wayne’s been a beneficiary of this

help, just as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and all the players have been. That’s what we’re there for.’
In a conference call with the Glazers, the future ambitions of the club were discussed and Wayne
was made one of the highest-paid players in the country, I would imagine. The next day he came in to
apologise. I told him: ‘It’s the fans you should be apologising to.’
There was a mixed reaction from the players. Some were put out; others were not bothered by him.
It was a sorry episode for Wayne because it portrayed him as a money man who had dropped his

grievance the minute his salary was raised. That’s the way it was presented, but I don’t think it was
Wayne’s intention to make it a financial issue. It blew over quickly. With the fans, however, there