Top Ten: Football transfers that shocked the world

9) Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney had already become a Premier League sensation at the age of sixteen playing for Everton, before he announced himself on the world stage at Euro 2004 as England‘s youngest player. He was touted to be the next big thing in football.

On deadline day in 2004, the boy wonder got his reward when Manchester United broke the bank and paid a record 25.6 million for the England star, which was the highest ever fee paid for a player under twenty.

Sir Alex didn’t expect the fee to burden those young broad shoulders, but even he was shocked by this – United had granted Rooney his wish to play in Europe, and how he repaid it on his first appearance, his Champions league debut, with a hat-trick on a packed night at Old Trafford. A new star was born for the United faithful.