Wayne Rooney has received a fierce response from Sir Alex Ferguson after Mesut Ozil's transfer request to Manchester United

Wayne Rooney may be boss now, but former manager Sir Alex Ferguson once savagely reminded him exactly who was in charge at Manchester United.

The former striker once saw a request to join his former club from the German star. Mesut Ozil Ferguson denied this in no uncertain terms.

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He Plymouth Argyle The boss can make all the important decisions regarding his club today as he looks to guide them to a successful Championship campaign.

But that wasn't always the case, and former Red Devils boss… Ferguson He was quick to do it Rooney Very aware of it.

Özil, world champion in 2014 announced his retirement football in March 2023 and while the end of his Arsenal career hadn't been entirely pleasant, he had earned the good wishes of many Gunners fans.

But if Rooney had had his way, it could have been… Man United Fans say goodbye to a former star.

Ozil enjoyed a hugely successful career and is regarded as one of the most talented midfielders and goal scorers of his generation.

The 34-year-old was part of the Germany squad that knocked England out of the 2010 World Cup and caught Rooney's eye during the match.

Ozil's efforts impressed the Manchester United star so much that Rooney asked Ferguson to bring him to Old Trafford.

However, the legendary manager would not listen to their pleas, as he revealed in his autobiography published in 2013: “Wayne said we should have pursued Mesut Ozil, who had joined Real Madrid from Werder Bremen.

“My response was that it was not his job to choose who we should have chosen. I told him that his job was to play and perform at his best. My job was to choose the right teams. And so far I have been getting it right.

“Well, at that time we didn't take him into account. When he was at Werder Bremen, Ozil played on the right wing and, towards the end of the season, he put him up front.

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“He went to South Africa and did very well, but he wasn't on our radar.

“But I explained it to Wayne and we made most of our decisions correctly.”

Ozil made 159 appearances for Madrid and racked up a magnificent 27 goals and 81 assists during his time at Los Blancos.

Such performances attracted the interest of Arsenalwho signed him at the summer 2013 deadline.

It proved to be a successful move for him as he scored 44 goals and provided 79 assists in 254 appearances.

He also won the FA Cup four times and lifted the World Cup with Germany during his time there, before leaving for Fenerbahce in 2021 and then Istanbul Basaksehir.

Meanwhile, Rooney played for Manchester United for many more years until he left to join Everton in 2017.

And it later emerged that his appreciation for Ozil was greatly reciprocated in 2021, when the German took Instagram to congratulate Rooney on his brilliant career when the news broke that he was hanging up his boots.

“Congratulations on your incredible football career @waynerooney!” Ozil wrote. “You will always be remembered as one of the best in English football history.

“Good luck on your new chapter.”

And since retiring from football in 2021, Rooney has taken on a number of managerial roles, most recently taking charge of Plymouth Argyle at the start of the 2023/24 season.

His spells in charge of Derby County, DC United and Birmingham City all ended badly, so the 38-year-old will be determined to prove his worth in the Championship this season.

And now Rooney will no doubt understand exactly how his former boss felt as he tries to manage the running of his team.

The former striker will surely hope to finally translate his success as a player into success as a manager, having won a total of 16 trophies with Manchester United.

Of course, suggesting whether the club might have been more successful had Ozil joined United is wishful thinking, but United were crowned Premier League champions twice without him.

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On the other hand, Manchester United have not won the top-flight title since the season Ozil joined Arsenal and one can't help but wonder whether things might have been different had he done so.

However, we all know how his time at Arsenal ended, so perhaps Ferguson got this one right after all.