Wayne Rooney left Gary Neville stunned with a story about a training ground incident during the ultra-competitive Alex Ferguson era at Manchester United.
In the latest edition of The Overlap, Neville paid a visit to his old teammate's luxury home to discuss his playing career, his management ambitions and a range of other topics.
Standing on a football pitch outside Rooney's home, the conversation turned to the the pair's time together at Old Trafford, and in particular the intense training games that took place among members of that hugely-talented squad.
Rooney recalled one incident in 2010, around the time that he put in his infamous transfer request, in which a challenge from Paul Scholes left him out of action for eight weeks.
Those who remember the period will recall Alex Ferguson's confirming Rooney's intention to leave United at a packed press conference ahead of a Champions League encounter with Bursapor, and the former forward jokingly suggested to Neville that the foul from Scholes was planned out by the manager.
"I'm sure the gaffers had a word with him before!" 👀@WayneRooney reveals who sidelined him for 8 weeks with a tackle during training. 🤕 pic.twitter.com/iHppYeaI50
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Wayne Rooney recalls Paul Scholes training ground incident
"Scholesy put me out for eight weeks, the day before a game" said Rooney. "It was the day the gaffer did his press conference when I said I wanted to leave. I'm sure the gaffer's had a word with him before training."
Missing the obvious joke, Neville's jaw dropped as he responded "I don't think he would, you know," before Rooney clarified that he was only messing.
Rooney did miss the game against Bursaspor, with reports at the time confirming that he had been "carried off in training," and he remained absent from the team for the following few weeks.
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Rooney recalls intense United training sessions
It was probably just as well that Scholes took him out, as he would have faced a torrent of abuse from the Old Trafford crowd after signalling his intention to leave.
The jeers and boos were put on hold until he returned against Wigan a few weeks later, but Rooney would end up staying at United for another seven years, the last three of which were spent as captain.
Fast-forward to the modern era and there are plenty of United fans who would love to hear more stories about the current squad showing that kind of intensity in training.
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