A blip not start of Wayne of terror

HE may only have been on the scene for a matter of weeks, but Wayne Rooney’s autobiography could already boast more chapters than many a seasoned pro.

Ever since his right foot launched a missile of a winner past David Seaman in October, justifying in one thrilling moment the mega-hype that had accompanied his footballing infancy, the boy from Croxteth has barely been off the back pages. Here was "a special talent," Arsene Wenger proclaimed, while he was merely the finest 16-year-old player his boss David Moyes had ever seen.

Possessing the kind of build usually found only in rugby scrums, Rooney settled in to the rough and tumble of English top-flight football with astonishing ease. Often arriving as a second-half substitute with the swagger and menace of a pantomime villain, the opposition fans soon sensed they were perhaps watching the first steps of a glittering career.