Rooney was born in Croxteth, Liverpool, to Jeanette Marie (née Morrey) and Thomas Wayne Rooney. He is of Irish descent and was brought up as a Roman Catholic with younger brothers Graham and John;[17] all three attended Our Lady and St Swithin's primary school and De La Salle School. He grew up supporting Everton. He admired Brazilian striker Ronaldo with Rooney stating “as an out-and-out forward he was probably the best.“

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Rooney began playing for Liverpool Schoolboys and scored 72 goals in one season, a record which stood until May 2010. At age nine, Rooney played for Copplehouse boys' club in the local Walton and Kirkdale junior league and scored 99 goals in his final season before being spotted by Everton scout Bob Pendleton.[23] Rooney joined Everton at age nine, and was the Everton mascot for the Merseyside derby against Liverpool as an 11-year-old. In the 1995–96 season, he scored 114 goals in 29 games for Everton's under-10s and 11s, and by the age of 15, he was playing for the under-19s. He scored eight goals in eight games during Everton's run to the FA Youth Cup final in 2002. This included one goal in the final defeat against Aston Villa and, upon scoring, he revealed a T-shirt that read, "Once a Blue, always a Blue." Rooney was included in Everton's first team squad for their training camp in Austria in the summer of 2002 and scored his first senior goal in a 3–1 friendly victory over SC Weiz on 15 July.

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"Rooney is the biggest England talent I've seen since I arrived in England. There has certainly not been a player under 20 as good as him since I became a manager here."

Arsène Wenger on Rooney following his last-minute goal against Arsenal in October 2002.

Rooney was an unused substitute in Everton's 1–0 away win over Southampton on 20 April 2002. He made his senior debut on 17 August in a 2–2 home draw against Tottenham Hotspur, starting the match and assisting the first goal by Mark Pembridge. He became the second youngest first-team player in Everton history behind Joe Royle. In that match, he was booed by the Spurs fans who shouted "Who are ya?" whenever he touched the ball. His first senior goals came on 2 October when he scored twice in a 3–0 away win over Wrexham in the second round of the League Cup. These goals meant that Rooney was Everton's youngest-ever goalscorer at the time.

On 19 October, five days before his 17th birthday, Rooney scored a last-minute winning goal against Arsenal. The goal ended Arsenal's 30-match unbeaten run, and also made Rooney the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history, a record that has since been surpassed twice, by James Milner and James Vaughan. He scored in a 1–0 away win over Leeds United 15 days later.

In December, Rooney was named 2002's BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year. Six days after claiming the award he scored the winning goal against Blackburn Rovers in a 2–1 home win. His first career red card came on Boxing Day in a 1–1 away draw against Birmingham City for a late challenge on Steve Vickers. In January 2003, Rooney signed his first professional contract, which made him one of world football's highest-paid teenagers. Rooney's first goal of 2003 came on 23 March, netting Everton's only goal in a 2–1 loss at Arsenal. In April, he scored a goal in Everton's 2–1 home win over Newcastle United, before hitting a last-minute winner against Aston Villa in another 2–1 home win.

 

He ended his debut season with eight goals in 37 appearances in all competitions for the Toffees.

Rooney scored his first goal of the 2003–04 season in a 2–2 away draw against Charlton Athletic on 26 August 2003. He did not find the net again until December when he scored in a 2–1 away win over Portsmouth, and a 3–2 home win over Leicester City. His final goal of 2003 came on his 50th league appearance, netting in a 1–0 home win over Birmingham City on 28 December. On 21 February 2004, Rooney scored two goals in a Premier League game for the first time in a 3–3 away draw against Southampton. He scored the sole goal in a 1–0 win over Portsmouth on 13 March, before scoring in a 1–1 away draw against Leicester City one week later. He scored his final goal of the season in a 1–1 away draw against Leeds United on 13 April.

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Rooney submitted a transfer request in August 2004, despite Everton having made a new contract offer valued at £50,000 per week. Everton then rejected a bid of £20 million from Newcastle, and ultimately signed for Manchester United at the end of the month after a £25.6 million deal was reached. It was the highest fee ever paid for a player under 20 years old; Rooney was still only 18 when he left Everton. Sir Alex Ferguson, then manager of United, said that "There were plenty of eyebrows raised" when he persuaded the club's board of directors to sanction "a multi-million pound" move to try to sign Rooney from Everton.

Rooney was given the number 8 shirt upon his arrival at Old Trafford. He made his United debut on 28 September in a 6–2 home win over Fenerbahçe in the UEFA Champions League, scoring a hat-trick and laying on an assist. These goals made Rooney the youngest player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League aged 18 years 335 days. His first season with Manchester United, however, ended without winning a trophy as they could only manage a third-place finish in the league, and failed to progress to the last eight of the Champions League. United had more success in the cup competitions, but were edged out of the League Cup in the semi-finals by a Chelsea side who also won the Premier League title that season, and a goalless draw with Arsenal in the FA Cup final was followed by a penalty shoot-out defeat. Rooney was United's top league scorer that season with 11 goals, and was credited with the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

 

In September 2005, Rooney was sent off in a goalless Champions League match against Villarreal of Spain for sarcastically clapping the referee, who had booked him for an unintentional foul on an opponent. His first trophy with United came in the 2005–06 League Cup, and he was also named man of the match after scoring twice in the final as United won 4–0 against Wigan Athletic. His club finished the season as Premier League runners up, with their title hopes ended in late April when they lost 3–0 away to champions Chelsea. Rooney sustained a broken metatarsal in that game after a tackle from Paulo Ferreira. Rooney scored a total of 16 goals in 26 Premier League games in the 2005–06 season.

Rooney was sent off in an Amsterdam Tournament match against Porto on 4 August 2006 after hitting Porto defender Pepe with his elbow. He was punished with a three-match ban by the FA, following their receipt of a 23-page report from referee Ruud Bossen that explained his decision. Rooney threatened to withdraw the FA's permission to use his image if they did not revoke the ban, although the FA had no power to make such a decision.

During the first half of the 2006–07 season, Rooney endured a ten-game scoreless streak before scoring a hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers. He subsequently signed a two-year contract extension the following month that tied him to United until 2012. In April 2007, Rooney scored and assisted Chris Eagles in a crucial 4–2 league win for Manchester United at his former club Everton, a game that also became notable for Rooney's response to fans that once cheered him.

‘Once a Blue, always a Blue’. Wayne Rooney’s infamous t-shirt was supposed to declare his love for Everton but later fuelled the feeling of betrayal felt by some Everton supporters after his transfer to Manchester United. The boos rang out as loud as ever when Rooney and co. took on Everton at Goodison Park. On 50 minutes, with Everton 2–0 up, it seemed the home fans would have the last laugh. However, United fought back and levelled before Rooney tapped in at the far post with 11 minutes to go – and promptly kissed the badge of his United shirt.

— Sky Sports on Rooney’s goal celebration where he kissed the Manchester United badge when scoring against his boyhood club, April 2007.

In the same month, Rooney scored two goals in an 8–3 aggregate Champions League quarter-final win over Roma and two more in the same competition at the end of April, in a 3–2 semi-final first leg victory over Milan. Rooney collected his first Premier League title winner's medal at the end of the

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In June 2007, Rooney was given squad number 10, last worn by Ruud van Nistelrooy. Rooney reasoned that he always loved that number. He fractured his left metatarsal in United's opening-day goalless draw against Reading on 12 August, the same injury he had suffered to his right foot in 2004. After being sidelined for six weeks, he returned and scored in United's 1–0 Champions League group stage win over Roma on 2 October. Rooney was again injured on 9 November, hurting his ankle during a training session and missing an additional two weeks. His next match after injury was against Fulham on 3 December, in which he played 70 minutes. Rooney missed ten games and finished the 2007–08 season with 18 goals (12 of them in the league), as United clinched the Premier League.[92] In the Champions League's first-ever all-English final, United defeated league rivals Chelsea to win another trophy.

 

Rooney played in 2008 UEFA Super Cup where United lost to Zenit Saint Petersburg and was unable to make an impact. On 4 October 2008, in an away win over Blackburn, Rooney became the youngest player to make 200 Premier League appearances. On 18 December, Rooney scored twice in the 5–3 semi-final victory over Japanese club Gamba Osaka in the FIFA Club World Cup, and, after scoring the winning goal as United beat LDU Quito 1–0 in the final in Yokohama, was awarded the Golden Ball as the best player in the tournament. On 14 January after scoring 54 seconds into the 1–0 win over Wigan, Rooney limped off with a hamstring injury in the eighth minute.[ On 25 April 2009, Rooney scored his final league goals of the season against Tottenham; United scored five goals in the second half to come from 2–0 down to win 5–2; Rooney scored two goals, set up two and provided the assist that led to the penalty for United's first goal. On 27 May, Rooney played against Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League Final in Rome, with United losing 2–0.[102] Rooney ended the season with 20 goals in all competitions. Once again, he managed 12 goals in the league.

Rooney scored in the 90th minute of the season-opening 2009 Community Shield, although United lost the game to Chelsea on penalties. He then scored the only goal of the first league game of the 2009–10 season against Birmingham City, taking his overall United tally to 99. On 22 August, he became the 20th Manchester United player to score 100 goals for the club, when he found the net twice in a 5–0 away win at Wigan. On 29 August, United played Arsenal at Old Trafford. Rooney scored a goal from the penalty spot to level the game after Andrey Arshavin had put the Gunners ahead. The game finished 2–1 to Manchester United after Abou Diaby scored an own goal. On 28 November 2009, Rooney scored his first hat-trick for three years in a 4–1 away victory against Portsmouth, with two of the goals being penalties. On 27 December 2009, he was awarded Man of the Match against Hull City. He was involved in all the goals scored in the game, hitting the opener and then giving away the ball for Hull's equalising penalty. He then forced Andy Dawson into conceding an own goal and then set up Dimitar Berbatov for United's third goal which gave them a 3–1 victory. On 30 December 2009, Rooney scored another goal as United beat Wigan 5–0 in their final game of the decade.

 

On 23 January 2010, Rooney scored all four goals in Manchester United's 4–0 win over Hull; three of the goals came in the last ten minutes of the match. This was the first time in his career that he registered four goals in a single match. On 27 January 2010, he continued his scoring run by heading the winner in the second minute of stoppage time against derby rivals Manchester City. This gave United a 4–3 aggregate win, taking them into the final; it was his first League Cup goal since netting two in the 2006 final. On 31 January 2010, Rooney scored his 100th Premier League goal in a 3–1 win over Arsenal for the first time in the league at Emirates Stadium, notably his first Premier League goal also came against Arsenal. On 16 February 2010, Rooney hit his first European goals of the season, scoring two headers in the 3–2 away win against Milan in Manchester United's first ever win against them at the San Siro. On 28 February 2010, he scored another header against Aston Villa (his fifth consecutive headed goal) which resulted in Manchester United winning the League Cup final 2–1. In the second leg of United's European tie against Milan, Rooney scored a brace in a resounding 4–0 home victory, taking his tally of goals that season to 30. He then added two more to his tally five days later at Old Trafford, in a 3–0 league win over Fulham.

On 30 March, during United's Champions League quarter-final first leg defeat against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, Rooney crumpled when he twisted his ankle in the last minute, hobbling off while Bayern were producing the buildup that led to their second goal. There were fears that he had received serious ligament damage or even a broken ankle, but it was announced that the injury was only slight ligament damage, and that he would be out for two-to-three weeks, missing United's crunch match with Chelsea and the return leg against Bayern the following week. The team list for second leg yielded a massive surprise when Rooney was given a starting place in the United line-up. Despite a 3–0 lead by the 41st minute, Bayern snatched a goal back and United were later forced down to 10 men after Rafael was sent-off. Bayern won the match after netting a second away-goal and Rooney was substituted after re-damaging his ankle. On 25 April, Rooney was named the 2010 PFA Players' Player of the Year.

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On 28 August 2010, Rooney scored his first goal of the season as he netted a penalty in a 3–0 home win over West Ham United. In October, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson stated at a press conference that Rooney wanted to quit the club. This came after a period of dispute as to the extent of Rooney's ankle injury, where Rooney had refuted Ferguson's claim that the injury was the reason Rooney had been dropped to the bench. Rooney and his representatives released a statement regarding his decision to leave the club, insisting it was not down to money but ambition. Following this statement, Rooney made a dramatic U-turn and agreed a new five-year contract at Manchester United until June 2015.

"It was stunning. Unbelievable. We've had some fantastic goals here but in terms of execution....you'll never see that."

Sir Alex Ferguson on Rooney's bicycle kick match-winner against Manchester City.

Rooney made his return to the first team as a substitute against Wigan on 20 November. Four days later, he returned to the starting line-up and scored a penalty in a 1–0 away win over Rangers in the Champions League. He missed a penalty in a 1–0 home win over Arsenal on 13 December. His first goal of the season from open play came on 1 January 2011 in a 2–1 away win over West Bromwich Albion. On 1 February, Rooney scored twice and assisted Nemanja Vidić's goal in a 3–1 home win over Aston Villa. On 12 February, Rooney scored an overhead bicycle kick in the 78th minute of the Manchester derby, which proved to be the winning goal in their 2–1 win over Manchester City. After the match, Rooney said it was the best goal of his career, before Sir Alex Ferguson described the strike as the best goal he had ever witnessed at Old Trafford. Two weeks later, he scored the third goal in a 4–0 away win over Wigan, before opening the scoring in a 2–1 away loss to Chelsea on 1 March. Rooney scored the second goal in a 2–0 home win over Arsenal in an FA Cup tie on 12 March.

 

On 2 April, United came from two goals down as Rooney scored his first hat-trick of the season in a 4–2 away win over West Ham. This was his fifth hat-trick for Manchester United, whilst the second goal was his 100th in the Premier League for the club. He became the third Manchester United player to score 100 Premier League goals, joining Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. During Rooney's celebrations following his third goal, he swore into a pitchside camera and was subsequently charged by the FA for using offensive language. Rooney accepted the charge, but not the automatic two-match ban which was handed to him. He appealed against the length of the suspension, calling it "excessive", but failed to overturn the ban, which ruled him out of the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City on 16 April. The following game on 6 April saw Rooney score in a 1–0 away win against Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-final first leg. He followed this goal up with another strike in the semi-final first leg against German side Schalke 04 on 26 April, scoring the second of a 2–0 away win. This was the first time Rooney had returned to the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen since his sending off during the 2006 FIFA World Cup against Portugal.

On 14 May 2011, Rooney scored a penalty for United to equalise in a 1–1 draw against Blackburn at Ewood Park in the penultimate game of the Premier League season – enough to secure a record 19th top division title for United, and giving Rooney his fourth Premier League title winner's medal.

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Rooney started the season with a goal in the first league game at The Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion. Rooney played a one-two with Ashley Young before a sharp turn and finish from outside the box which found the bottom corner of the goal. He also scored in the second game of the season, at home to Tottenham Hotspur, when he headed in a Ryan Giggs cross. In late August, Rooney scored his 150th goal for United, the first of a hat-trick, helping to beat Arsenal 8–2. Rooney won man of the match, scoring two free kicks, a penalty, and also contributing an assist for Nani. On 10 September, Rooney scored another hat-trick in a 5–0 away win over Bolton Wanderers on 10 September, becoming only the fourth player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick in consecutive games. These goals brought him level with Bobby Charlton on seven United hat-tricks, joint fourth on the all-time list behind Denis Law, Jack Rowley and Dennis Viollet. After the fallout from his red card against Montenegro on international duty, Rooney was left out of the starting line-up against Liverpool on 15 October 2011.[151] He returned to action on 18 October 2011, where he scored two goals in the Champions League group stage match against Oțelul Galați and surpassed his former teammate Paul Scholes as the highest-scoring Englishman in Champions League history.

 

On 10 December, Rooney ended an 8-game goal drought with a brace against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 4–1 win at Old Trafford. On 18 December, Rooney continued his goal scoring form heading home the opening goal against Queens Park Rangers, making it Manchester United's quickest goal of the season so far after just 52 seconds at Loftus Road. He was assisted by Antonio Valencia's cross. On 21 December, Rooney scored his 130th Premier League goal in his 300th Premier League appearance against Fulham at Craven Cottage with a long-range effort that crashed in off the inside of the post in a 5–0 win.

On 8 January, Rooney scored two goals in the FA Cup third round 3–2 away win against Manchester City at Etihad Stadium. His first goal was assisted by Antonio Valencia. With these goals, Rooney passed Mark Hughes in United's all-time top goalscorers table, moving up to seventh place overall with 164 goals. On 14 January, Rooney made a big contribution to his team in a 3–0 home win against Bolton. Although he missed a penalty, he did create two goals by assisting Paul Scholes for the first goal and Danny Welbeck for the second. On 5 February, Rooney scored twice from the penalty spot as United came back from a 3–0 deficit to draw 3–3 in a Premier League clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. On 11 February 2012, Rooney marked his 500th senior career game by scoring two goals as Manchester United beat rivals Liverpool 2–1 at Old Trafford. This was also his 350th game for United in all competitions. On 4 March, Rooney scored the first goal in a 3–1 away win against Tottenham at White Hart Lane and passed Joe Spence in Manchester United's all-time top goalscorers table, moving up to sixth place overall with 169 goals. He scored another brace in his next game, against Atletico Bilbao in the UEFA Europa League. On 11 March, Rooney scored the two goals that brought United the victory against West Brom in a 2–0 home win. On 15 March, Rooney scored in the second leg of the Europa League tie against Athletic Bilbao in Bilbao despite United losing 2–1 on the night and 5–3 on aggregate. In the final day of the season, Rooney put United ahead against Sunderland. Their rivals for the Premier League title, Manchester City, were losing 2–1 in their game going into injury time, so Rooney's winner looked like it would seal the title. However, Manchester City scored twice in injury time, the clincher a 94th-minute winner from Sergio Agüero, to take the trophy.

Despite starting the opening game of the 2012–13 season against Everton, Rooney was dropped to the bench for the second game against Fulham in favour of new signing Robin van Persie. After coming on for Shinji Kagawa in the 68th minute, Rooney suffered a severe gash to his right leg caused by Fulham's Hugo Rodallega that kept him out for four weeks. He made his comeback on 29 September in a 3–2 loss against Tottenham. Rooney scored his first goals of the season in a 4–2 league win at home to Stoke City on 20 October, where he reached his 200th club goal. On 7 November, he scored his first Champions League goal of the season, scoring a penalty in a 3–1 win against Braga. He scored twice and assisted a goal in a 4–3 win against Reading on 1 December. He scored a brace in the Manchester derby at the City of Manchester Stadium on 9 December 2012 which United won 3–2. On 16 January, he scored a goal against West Ham in the FA Cup. A fortnight later, he scored twice in a 2–1 win against Southampton. He continued to score goals in FA Cup consecutive matches against Fulham and Chelsea. On 12 May, Sir Alex Ferguson announced, after United's 2–1 win against Swansea City, that Rooney had handed in his transfer request, a match in which Rooney also requested not to play.

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On 5 July 2013, new United manager David Moyes announced that Rooney was not for sale, after speculation that Chelsea, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain were among the clubs looking to sign him. On 17 July 2013, Chelsea confirmed that they had made a bid for Rooney the previous day, thought to be in the region of £20 million, however it had been rejected by Manchester United. He suffered a head gash in training on 31 August after a collision with Phil Jones which kept him out of the match against Liverpool. He scored his first goal of the season with a free-kick in a 2–0 win against Crystal Palace. On 17 September, Rooney scored twice in a 4–2 win against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, marking his 200th goal for United in the process. On 22 September, Rooney scored a wonderful free-kick at the 11th hour to grab a consolation goal in the 4–1 thrashing against their neighbour, Manchester City, in the Manchester derby. He scored a brace against Tottenham at White Hart Lane in a 2–2 draw on 1 December. He scored his 150th league goal for the club with a volley against Hull City on 26 December as United came back from 2–0 deficit to win the match 3–2; he also provided assists for the other two goals. On 21 February 2014, Rooney signed a contract extension with Manchester United, which will keep him at Old Trafford until 2019. Rooney provided one assist to Robin van Persie as Manchester United defeated Olympiacos in the second leg of Champions League round of 16 tie. On 22 March 2014, Rooney scored two goals for United at West Ham, moving him to third place on the club's all-time scoring list with 212 career goals. Rooney ended the season as both the top scorer and assist for Manchester United in the league with 17 goals and 10 assists. He also had the most assists in the 2013–14 Champions League with eight, beating second-placed Ángel Di María who had six.

"Wayne has shown a great attitude towards everything he does. I have been very impressed by his professionalism and his attitude to training and to my philosophy. He is a great inspiration to the younger members of the team and I believe he will put his heart and soul into his captaincy role.”

Louis van Gaal on naming Rooney Manchester United captain.

After the departure of Nemanja Vidić from Manchester United in July 2014, Rooney was named club captain by new manager Louis van Gaal ahead of the 2014–15 season. On the opening day of the Premier League season on 16 August, Rooney scored a bicycle kick to equalise against Swansea, although United eventually lost 1–2. On 27 September 2014, Rooney became the third highest Premier League goalscorer, moving ahead of Thierry Henry with 176 goals after he netted a goal in a 2–1 victory against West Ham. In the same match, he was sent off for a foul on Stewart Downing and received a three-game suspension. On 22 November 2014, Rooney scored for United in a 2–1 win against rivals Arsenal, their first away win of the season. He continued to score in the following match, in a 3–0 win over Hull City. On 14 December, he scored the opening goal in a 3–0 win over rivals Liverpool. On 26 December, Rooney scored two goals against Newcastle United, a match which his side won 3–1 – United's 50th successive Boxing Day match. For his performances, Rooney was voted as United's Player of the Month for December. During the season, Rooney was often deployed as a midfielder by Van Gaal.

On 16 February 2015, in an FA Cup match against Preston North End, Rooney was the subject of criticism for having dived to get a penalty; United would go on to win the match 3–1. Replay seemed to have shown that Rooney hadn't come in contact with the goalkeeper. England manager Roy Hodgson, however, defended Rooney, saying that he was forced to take evasive action. Rooney later apologised for his behaviour, saying, "that was my chance to get a penalty. I had to use that." The penalty was also Rooney's first goal in 2015, ending a goalless run. On 28 February 2015, he scored a brace in a 2–0 victory over Sunderland, thus becoming the first player to score more than 10 goals in 11 successive seasons. On 15 March, Rooney scored the third goal in a 3–0 win over Tottenham. Rooney was Manchester United's top goalscorer for the 2014–15 campaign, but his tally of 14 is the lowest by a leading scorer since 1982. United's total goals of 62 were also their second worst in the

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On 26 August 2015, Rooney ended an 878-minute scoreless streak by scoring a hat-trick in a 4–0 win (7–1 aggregate) over Belgian side Club Brugge in the second leg of their Champions League play-off. It was his first treble in European competition since his United debut against Fenerbahçe in 2004. He netted in a 3–0 win away to Everton on 17 October, putting him on 187 Premier League goals, joint second with Andy Cole and behind only Alan Shearer. After an injury-related absence, Rooney returned to the starting line-up on 19 December, making his 500th Manchester United appearance in a 2–1 home loss to Norwich City.

On 2 January 2016, Rooney scored in a 2–1 win over Swansea to move ahead of Cole as the Premier League's second top scorer of all time, and with 238 he surpassed Denis Law in United's top scorers of all time, behind only Bobby Charlton's 249. Fifteen days later, he scored the only goal in a win against Liverpool at Anfield, his 176th league goal for United, taking Thierry Henry’s record for most goals for one club in the Premier League. After being ruled out since 13 February due to a knee injury, Rooney returned to the starting line-up in a 1–0 home win over Aston Villa on 16 April. On 21 May, Rooney captained Manchester United in the 2016 FA Cup Final against Crystal Palace. He played the full 120 minutes in central midfield, winning the competition for the first time in his career after a 2–1 extra time victory at Wembley Stadium.[

 

Rooney receiving an award for becoming Manchester United's record goalscorer from previous record holder Sir Bobby Charlton in January 2017

On 7 August 2016, Rooney set up Jesse Lingard's opening goal in Manchester United's 2–1 victory over Leicester City in the 2016 FA Community Shield, lifting his second title as the club's captain. On 6 November 2016, Rooney became only the third player ever to achieve 100 Premier League assists, setting up both of Zlatan Ibrahimović's goals in a 3–1 away win against Swansea City. On 24 November, Rooney overtook Ruud van Nistelrooy to become Manchester United's all-time leading scorer in European competitions with 39 goals, opening the scoring in a 4–0 home win over Feyenoord in the Europa League.

On 7 January 2017, Rooney scored against Reading in the third round of the FA Cup to equal Bobby Charlton as Manchester United's top goalscorer of all time. Rooney's goal was his 249th in 543 games for Manchester United, reaching the landmark in 215 matches and four seasons quicker than Charlton. On 21 January 2017, Rooney finally surpassed Charlton to become the outright leading scorer for Manchester United after scoring his 250th goal for the club and the equaliser from a free kick against Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium in the game's final minutes to secure a 1–1 draw. On 29 January, prior to playing his part in the 4–0 triumph in the FA Cup fourth round against Wigan Athletic, Rooney was presented with a commemorative Golden Boot to acknowledge him becoming the club's all-time leading goal scorer. It was presented by Charlton whose record Rooney broke. On 14 May 2017, in a 2–1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on the last day of the Premier League season, Rooney had the distinction of scoring the final goal at Spurs' White Hart Lane stadium.