Rooney played for Everton twice, United, DC United and Derby, but most of the good ones are from one place and one decade. So this is really an argument about Ferguson's United between 2004 and 2013, with Everton, Washington and Derby turning up at the edges.
Club teammates only. If England counted, Gerrard would be in for Keane and we'd be here all night.
The XI
4-3-3, with the years each player overlapped with Rooney in brackets. I went back and forth on two strikers, but the best United sides he played in were usually a front three, with Ronaldo coming in off a wing.
Goalkeeper
Edwin van der Sar (2005 to 2011). David de Gea had just as many seasons with Rooney, six, and some of you will want him. I don't think it's close, though. Van der Sar saved Nicolas Anelka's penalty in Moscow to win the 2008 Champions League, and that winter he went 1,311 minutes in the league without conceding, a record at the time.
Defence
Gary Neville, right back (2004 to 2011). Captain after Keane left, though his knees went and he barely played in the last couple of seasons. Antonio Valencia has a case, and so does Rafael.
Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidić, centre backs (2004 to 2014, 2006 to 2014). I'm not separating them. Vidić came in January 2006, and from then until Ferguson retired United won five league titles. Go back to Van der Sar's 1,311 minutes that winter of 2008-09 and these two were the usual pair in front of him.
Patrice Evra, left back (2006 to 2014). Signed the same January as Vidić. Everton fans will push back here, because Leighton Baines was Rooney's teammate at Goodison in 2017-18. Baines was the better crosser and probably took a better free kick. But Evra was there for all five of those title wins with Rooney, and in three Champions League finals.
Midfield
Michael Carrick (2006 to 2017). Eleven seasons together, more than anyone else in this team. Carrick never looked hurried. If you watched United in those years you'll remember how often a move started with him passing it ten yards and the whole thing just opening up.
Roy Keane (2004 to 2005). This is where I'm on thin ice. He only had about fifteen months with Rooney before he left in November 2005, the shortest overlap in the team by a distance. By any fair rule he should be on the bench, and Park Ji-sung or Owen Hargreaves would be the sensible pick. Hargreaves was in the side that won in Moscow. Park was trusted with the biggest jobs Ferguson had. Either would do. I just can't build a midfield from this list and not have Keane in it.
Paul Scholes (2004 to 2011, then 2012 to 2013). Retired in 2011, came back that January and won the title again in 2012-13. In between, he scored the only goal of the 2008 semi-final against Barcelona from 25 yards, and that sent them to Moscow.
Attack
Cristiano Ronaldo, right (2004 to 2009). Ronaldo turned up in 2003, Rooney a year later, both teenagers. 2007-08 was his season. He scored 42 times in all competitions, headed United in front in the Moscow final and won the Ballon d'Or.
Robin van Persie, centre (2012 to 2015). April 2013, Villa at home, Rooney's long ball over the top and Van Persie volleying it in first time. That was the night the title was won, the last one Ferguson got. Van Persie had come from Arsenal the summer before and scored 26 league goals that season, and I'd struggle to name a signing that settled a title race more directly. You could argue Tevez or Van Nistelrooy were better partners for Rooney day to day, and I'd listen. He only had three seasons with Rooney, and the last two were a mess for everyone at the club.
Ryan Giggs, left (2004 to 2014). All nine of Rooney's Ferguson seasons, plus the Moyes year. He ended up in central midfield, but I want him on the left.
Manager
Sir Alex Ferguson. Nine seasons with Rooney, five league titles and the 2008 Champions League. There's a fun alternative. David Moyes gave Rooney his Everton debut at 16 and then took over at United in 2013-14, so Moyes managed him at both clubs.
Close but not quite
- Ruud van Nistelrooy (2004 to 2006). If you want a proper number nine over Van Persie, I understand. He only had two seasons with Rooney before he left for Real Madrid.
- Carlos Tevez (2007 to 2009). He and Rooney ran themselves into the ground in the double-winning 2007-08 season. Plenty of United fans would have him up front.
- Dimitar Berbatov (2008 to 2012). Five goals against Blackburn in November 2010 and a share of the Golden Boot that season.
- Zlatan Ibrahimović (2016 to 2017). Scored twice in the 2017 League Cup final against Southampton. One season together is too short, even with Keane getting away with fifteen months.
- David de Gea (2011 to 2017). Covered above. If you'd swap him in, I wouldn't argue for long.
- Park Ji-sung (2005 to 2012). Ferguson gave him Andrea Pirlo to look after in the 2010 Champions League tie with Milan.
- Leighton Baines and Séamus Coleman (Everton, 2017 to 2018). The best of the Goodison lot for this team.
The rest of the career
Rooney's first Everton spell gave him Thomas Gravesen, Duncan Ferguson and Lee Carsley. It also gave him the goal against Arsenal in October 2002, at 16, that ended their unbeaten run. His second spell was one season, and in November 2017 he scored a hat-trick against West Ham, one of them from inside his own half. He and Lukaku swapped clubs the same week in July 2017, which is about the closest they got.
At DC United he made the moment Americans still bring up. Against Orlando City in August 2018 he chased back to win the ball deep in stoppage time, ran it the length of the pitch and crossed for Luciano Acosta to head the winner. Derby came last, as player-coach from January 2020 until he stopped playing a year later to become their manager. Tom Lawrence and Curtis Davies were good pros in a side that was struggling.
Build your own
Plenty of fans would rather have the actual Moscow team on the wall than a made-up one, or the 2013 side that won Ferguson his last title. You can put either together, or Rooney with his old Everton teammates, in our team builder. Pick the players, formation, kits and pitch, add a title and a message, and we email you a proof before anything is printed. Or have a look at the Manchester United prints if a classic side is what you're after.