So there he is, the 18-year-old Wayne Rooney. Looking uncomfortable in a suit and tie. Struggling to string two words together in true young footballer fashion, with the microphones ganging up on him.
A £20-million move to Manchester United and the lad from tough Croxteth in Liverpool, who scratched ‘Wayne Rooney EFC†on the window of his bedroom a decade ago, is definitely history at Everton.
Goodison Park on Sunday reverberated to anti-Rooney jeers, anti-Rooney scarves and anti-Rooney graffiti on Saturday after Everton’s youngest Premiership scorer had put in an official transfer request.
Ah, the pain of losing your bright young thing to Manchester United or Chelsea. So many of the lesser clubs have been through it, but the agony never eases.
David Moyes had made all the right noises about keeping his precocious striker but when Rooney came out last weekend and said he was ‘gutted†by the club’s response to his demand to leave, it was quickly apparent that Rooney had played his last game in Everton blue.
Rooney, ridiculed for his gum-chewing, dress-sense and public-speaking ability when he won the BBC young sports personality of the year, said: ‘It is tough for the Everton fans because they have seen me come through and regard me as one of their own.
‘But I wanted to move on for myself and my career. There are many things that happened behind the scenes that no one really knows about and that made it more difficult. I don’t want to go over them now and I don’t think it was a case of Everton not wanting me to play for them.
‘I knew six weeks ago that I wanted to leave but the only way that would happen was if I put in a transfer request, so that is what I did.
‘After Euro 2004 I knew I could play with the top players and in the big tournaments. The Champions League is the biggest club tournament in the world and it was frustrating not being able to play in it.
‘I still regard Everton as a massive club, I’ve played for them for two years and have supported them all my life. If Everton had been in the Champions League, it would have been a different matter.
‘But I wanted to further my career. It was time to move on and Manchester United is the right choice.â€
Look, let’s be honest. Rooney hasn’t even scored 20 goals for Everton. He wasn’t much help in the battle against relegation last season and nobody is quite sure just how good he is, despite his astonishing finishing and obvious threat for England at Euro 2004 in Portugal.
Rooney announced himself on the scene with the goal which destroyed Arsenal two seasons ago, a spectacular 20m screamer that flew in off the bar past David Seaman.
But he has done little to suggest since, Euro 2004 apart, that he is the next Dennis Law, the next Bobby Charlton, or as Pele famously said, the next Pele.
The next George Best? Possibly. The off-field headlines, involving prostitutes and escort agencies, certainly suggest a link.
With his fifth metatarsal still recovering from the Portuguese boot that landed on his right foot during the gut-wrenching quarterfinal defeat, Rooney has to represent something of a risk at £20-million, a fee which could rise to £27-million if he wins all the caps and trophies he is expected to pick up at Manchester United.
Unite manager Alex Ferguson, with Alan Smith, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Louis Saha all competing for Rooney’s striking role, admitted he wouldn’t have made the bid now had his hand not been forced by Newcastle’s offer last weekend: ‘Once we knew Everton were talking to another club then we had to do something. It’s a strange twist of fate that if Newcastle had not come in, we would not be here today. The boy can play anywhere — but I probably won’t try him in the back four.â€