Wayne Rooney insists he never filed a formal transfer request at Manchester United after a bust-up with then manager Alex Ferguson.

The United captain fell out with Ferguson back in 2010 after he had been dropped from the starting XI, leading to suggestions he had formally demanded a move.

Rooney eventually signed a contract renewal instead, though, and he has now made it clear that he never requested an exit, hailing his former boss as the best ever in the process.

"I went in to see him and I said, 'If you're not going to play me it might be better if I move on.' And then all of a sudden it was all over the press that I'd put a transfer request in, which I never did," Rooney was quoted as saying by the Daily Star. "I don't know what happened, why it panned out that way.

"Ferguson was the reason why I wanted to join Manchester United, to work with him. In my eyes he is the best manager of all time."

Rooney was named the Old Trafford side's captain by Louis van Gaal in 2014 following the departure of Nemanja Vidic.

He has made close to 500 appearances in all competitions for United since joining them from Everton in 2004