Wayne Rooney spent his career playing alongside some of the best to play the game. With the pinnacle of his career being a part of a Champions League-winning side that included the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Nemanja Vidic and Ryan Giggs.

Before he was playing in the red of Manchester, Rooney broke through as a young Evertonian starlet. Making his Premier League debut at 16 years old, he played in his home city of Liverpool before being picked up by Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United two seasons later.

When Rooney was breaking into the first team, Everton had a number of impressive attack-minded players that he could model himself after, including Wales winger Mark Pembridge and the late Kevin Campbell. However, there was one striker in particular that Rooney favored, and they would go on to play together on 31 occasions.

Rooney's "favourite player" growing up

Rooney's rapid development as a youngster saw him make his Premier League debut at only 16 years old. Some players don’t break into the first team football until they are in their 20s, but being able to play at a high standard at such a young age allowed Rooney to play alongside Duncan Ferguson.

At an Everton legends game in March, Rooney reminisced about the start of his career and his admiration for Ferguson growing up, calling the £4m ex-Rangers record signing his "favourite player".

While Rooney admired Ferguson for his striking abilities, many know the Scot for his hard-man persona and his less-than-reputable disciplinary record.

During his 319 career appearances, he received 44 yellow cards and six red cards, meaning he received some form of card on an average of just over once every six games.

Ferguson's concise approach to dealing with Rooney

Ferguson was clearly aware of his reputation and took it into consideration when dealing with a young and impressionable Rooney. When speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, he said:

“Wayne was only young at the time, you know, coming through at Everton. You could see where he was going to get to; he wasn’t quite there, but he was still a top, top player; you could see what he was going to be.

"I kind of tried to shy away from Wayne. Wayne was younger than me, and I think he looked up to me. I was a bit worried because I wasn’t the best role model, and he was just a young kid. He was the biggest talent in Britain, and if he got into trouble, I was going to get the blame for it. So I tended to keep away from him."

When Ferguson gave advice to Rooney, it seemed to be the best advice of his career, as he advised him to move to Manchester United rather than Newcastle United. Ferguson said his advice to Rooney was: “Newcastle’s a wonderful club with great fans, but if you’re going to leave and Sir Alex Ferguson wants you, then you’ve got to go there”, and given his success at United, it was clearly the right move.