Sir Alex Ferguson was so intent on bringing a teenage Wayne Rooney to Manchester United that he made two separate approaches to Everton — refusing to take no for an answer the first time around.

That revelation came from former Everton manager David Moyes, speaking on the latest episode of The Wayne Rooney Show, where he offered a candid account of how Ferguson's pursuit unfolded behind closed doors.

Rooney eventually completed his move to Manchester United in August 2004 in a deal worth £27 million. At that point, the striker had scored 15 goals across 67 Premier League appearances for Everton, and had also attracted interest from Newcastle.

Ferguson's first approach

Moyes recalled how Ferguson invited him to a private meeting at the Haydock Thistle Hotel to make his intentions clear. "I got there and there was a room booked and he came in and said, 'I want Rooney'," Moyes said. "I said, 'No, he is not for sale. No chance, I am not selling him'."

Ferguson then pressed Moyes on whether he would at least block a move to Chelsea or any other club — to which Moyes again said no. "He was very straight with me because I told him I didn't want Wayne to go," Moyes added.

A second call — and a change in circumstances

Ferguson did not let the matter rest for long. Moyes revealed that three or four weeks after their first meeting, Ferguson was back on the phone requesting another sit-down at the same hotel, telling Moyes that "things have moved on."

What had changed was Rooney's explosive performance at Euro 2004. The 18-year-old lit up the tournament for England, netting four goals in four matches before a broken foot cut his campaign short at the quarter-final stage, where England were eliminated by Portugal in a penalty shootout.

Rooney himself acknowledged that Ferguson had initially been prepared to wait before making a move. "Alex Ferguson wanted to wait a year," Rooney said. "But because I'd done so well at the Euros, it was just basically everyone was starting to get in ahead of the other one, then it became inevitable that I was gonna go that summer."

The Euro 2004 performances had raised Rooney's profile to such a degree that Ferguson felt compelled to accelerate his pursuit — and the second meeting proved decisive in setting the transfer in motion.