Everton supporters will have watched Wayne Rooney's performances at Euro 2004 through their fingers.
A product of the club's academy and a boyhood fan of the Toffees, the teenager was one of them, who had announced himself to the Premier League with a string of fearless and bullish displays during the previous two campaigns.
However, the fact that he took that form into a major international tournament showed that even at the age of 18, he was ready to play on the biggest stage on a regular basis. As such, with Manchester United heavily linked and the likes of Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona all said to be monitoring the youngster's progress, bids were expected.
Yet, it wasn't one of those four clubs that made the first move for Rooney's signature. Surprisingly, Newcastle, who had crept up unnoticed on the blindside of other potential suitors and were armed with the cash from Jonathan Woodgate's move to Real Madrid, submitted an offer of £20m for the striker 10 years ago today.
At the time, there was some confusion as to how much say Newcastle manager Sir Bobby Robson had in the pursuit of Rooney, particularly because he already had Alan Shearer, Craig Bellamy, Patrick Kluivert and Shola Ameobi in his squad at St James' Park as attacking options.
The hefty bid was rejected by Everton, with a club spokesman saying: "I can confirm that we have received a £20m offer for Wayne Rooney from Newcastle United. This bid has been turned down."
Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd went on to reveal that the offer would remain on the table should their Premier League counterparts have a change of heart, but they were hopeful that Rooney would sign a new contract to remain at Goodison Park, while the player himself was known to prefer a move to Man United following allegations surrounding his private life on Merseyside.
As time ticked ever closer towards the end of the transfer window, Newcastle were believed to have upped their bid for Rooney to £23,5m, but not for the first time, they were eventually beaten by United, who paid out £25.6m for the teenager - the highest ever fee spent on a player under the age of 20.
Speaking at Rooney's unveiling at Old Trafford in early September of that year, Sir Alex Ferguson conceded that Newcastle's interest had sparked him and United into action. "It's a strange twist of fate that if Newcastle hadn't come in for him he wouldn't be here, he'd probably still be at Everton," he said.
"Once we knew Everton were talking to another club we had to do something. We didn't think he was available. The vibes I got when I spoke to David Moyes at the end of the season were that he wasn't going to sell the player."
A decade on, Rooney remains a United player and was recently appointed the club captain by new manager Louis van Gaal.
Liam Apicella
