Former England striker Wayne Rooney says he received death threats when he made the move from boyhood club Everton to Manchester United.
Aged 18, Rooney signed for the Red Devils in a £27m deal in 2004 after turning down a club record contract offer from the Toffees.
But Rooney’s move from Merseyside led to a heavy backlash from some Everton supporters.
“I got death threats,” Rooney said on the latest episode of BBC Sport’s The Wayne Rooney Show.
“My parents’ house was getting spray painted and smashed up. My girlfriend at the time, wife now, her house was getting spray painted.
“I think that’s where you have to be mentally strong. The people around you have to help.
“Leaving was difficult because I went to Manchester United, and Liverpool and Manchester was a big rivalry so that made it a lot more difficult.
“But I was always of a mindset of ‘I don’t care’. I knew what I wanted and I knew how to get there.
“I had to stay tough in my mind. This was people from my city so it was tough but I thought ‘I don’t care’, you have to be selfish and make these decisions.”
‘There’s millions of people watching’ – Rooney on pressures of modern game
When Rooney made the move to Manchester United it was at a time with far less social media, the increase of which he feels creates a different kind of pressure on young footballers in the modern game.
Rooney’s oldest son, Kai, is currently on the books at United and has stressed the importance of making sure he has a strong support network as he looks to make it in professional football.
“Now the difference is social media,” Rooney said.
“When I was young, I was in the local newspapers and so everyone in Liverpool really knew me.
“Now I have it with my boy who’s 16 and he’s on social media. He plays for my United, he’s sponsored by Puma and there’s hundreds of thousands or millions of people watching them when they’re that young, and I didn’t have that really.
“Being a young player and going into the first team especially, you’re getting judged. Rightly or wrongly, you get judged and that’s where you need the people around you, people at the club or your family to keep you in a good place.
“We can all get carried away with social media as well. So it’s really important that the people who are close to you have your best interest. It’s the main thing.”
Rooney on writing to imprisoned Duncan Ferguson as a child
Meanwhile, Rooney also revealed that he used to exchange letters with Duncan Ferguson as a child while the Everton striker was in jail for assault.
In 1995, when Rooney was 10, Toffees striker Ferguson served a 44-day jail term for headbutting Raith Rovers defender John McStay at his previous club Rangers.
“I was a young boy who supported Everton so I used to write to him in jail, and then he’d write back,” said Rooney.
“It was just me telling him how much I love him. [He’d say] ‘thanks, it means a lot’. Obviously, when you’re in jail as well you take anything.”
Rooney joined Everton’s academy in 1996 and made his first-team debut aged 16 in 2002 while Ferguson was still at the club.
“Because I was too young to drive as well he’d take me home from training,” Rooney added.
“My family were all massive Evertonians, so Duncan Ferguson used to take me home to my mum’s house and my dad was out the window [waving]. So that was surreal.”
