Wayne Rooney must be used to seeing his name make the headlines during the summer months.
More recently, the Croxteth-born striker has been heavily linked with a transfer to Chelsea, while back in 2004's sunnier times, the column inches were also devoted to his future.
Then 18, Rooney had scared the life out of defences, including the French rearguard, at the European Championships in Portugal. In fact, had he not broken his foot in the quarter-finals against the host nation, many believe that he would have gone on to spearhead England's first success at a major tournament since 1966.
Despite the injury, his performances for the Three Lions had made the Everton starlet hot property. Newcastle United were keen, but as soon as Manchester United had declared their interest, there was only one destination for the 18-year-old.
The deal was struck nine years ago today, with United paying the Toffees £25.6m - a record fee for a player under the age of 20. The Red Devils had also left it late, having sealed his signature with just four hours of the transfer window left to run.
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His new manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, said at the time: "I am very excited. We have got the best young player this country has seen in the past 30 years. Everyone is delighted by this signing."
Rooney himself added: "It was a tough decision to leave Everton, the club I've supported and played for all my life, but I'm excited to be joining a club as big as Manchester United. I feel this can only improve my career, playing with top players in top competitions like the Champions League and I can't wait to meet up with the team."
The injury meant that Rooney had to wait until late September to make his debut when he announced himself to the Old Trafford faithful by scoring a hat-trick against Turkish side Fenerbahce in a European match.
He has since gone on to score 197 times for United, winning five Premier League titles, one Champions League, two League Cups, three Community Shields and a Club World Cup in the process.
It appears that he will now have the chance to add to that record over the next 12 months at least, with United adamant that he is not for sale, despite his reported desire to leave.
Liam Apicella
