Wayne Rooney has revealed that his relationship with former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was ‘never the same’ after he handed in a transfer request.

The former England striker asked to leave the Red Devils in October 2010, as he expressed concern over the direction that the club after wanting assurances about their ability to attract the top players in the world.

He ultimately made a U-turn on his decision and would stay at Old Trafford until the end of the 2016-17 season.

Appearing as a guest on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, Rooney admits he made the wrong decision, but said that it felt like the ‘right thing’ to do at the time.

He said: ‘When I put the transfer request in [to leave Manchester United], I was still speaking to David Gill on where the club was going, how they were going to move forward.

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Wayne Rooney’s (left) relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson (right) was ‘never the same’ after handing in a transfer request

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Rooney ultimately signed a new deal and they spent three seasons together after his transfer request, though their relationship wasn’t as strong as what it had been before

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Rooney said Ferguson was hurt as they ‘couldn’t afford’ to lose him after already selling Cristiano Ronaldo (right) and Carlos Tevez (centre)

‘Being a manager now myself, and looking back, it was the wrong thing to do probably. At the time, I felt like it was the right thing to do to really get assurances for my own career.

‘Once David [Gill] had explained what the club are doing, I said, “Fine – that’s all the manager had to say. That’s all the club had to tell me”, and then I signed the new deal.

‘In terms of the relationship with the manager [Sir Alex Ferguson], of course it was never the same. After that, the big thing that probably hurt him was they had just sold Carlos Tevez, they had just sold Cristiano Ronaldo, and probably couldn’t afford to let me go.’

Rooney enjoyed great success at the Red Devils, forming a prolific strike partnership alongside Ronaldo and Tevez.

Ronaldo and Tevez both left for Real Madrid and Man City respectively in 2009, with United then missing out on the following league title to a Chelsea side led by Carlo Ancelotti.

Rooney added: ‘You could see what was happening and then I started thinking about the team. Thinking, “Right, what’s happening with the team? What’s going to happen with the manager” because we knew he [Sir Alex Ferguson] didn’t have that long left.

‘The club offered me a new five-year deal but then we just sold [Carlos] Tevez, we just sold [Cristiano] Ronaldo and I said to the manager, “It’s no disrespect to Phil Jones or Chris Smalling – they are obviously not going to replace Ronaldo and Tevez” and I just wanted assurances that it wasn’t going to be another transition.

‘I didn’t have the time personally, so I felt it was important to ask the question. Is it going to be a three, four-year transition, or is it going to be we’re going to win trophies now and he told me to get out of his office – so then I got more sense out of David Gill of what the plan was.’

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Rooney joined United in 2004 and would go on to become their all-time leading scorer

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Gary Neville (left) admitted that he felt there was ‘no way back’ for Rooney at Old Trafford

Rooney’s former United team-mate Gary Neville admitted that he felt that there was no way back for the striker after news of his transfer request came out.

The news broke just before United player Turkish side Bursaspor in the Champions League.

Neville said: ‘I remember being in the dressing room just before a Champions League game when the statement [about Wayne Rooney’s transfer request] came out. I thought that was it – there is no come back from that.

‘I’d seen it many times previously over the past 10, 15 years. I thought, “How did that turn around from [Rooney] making that statement?” Me and Giggsy [Ryan Giggs] spoke to [Rooney] the morning after in the gym and said, “You have to say sorry to the lads”, which [he] did. We never thought it would turn around with the manager.’

Rooney ultimately won a further two league titles under Ferguson before the legendary manager retired in 2013.

He played four further seasons at Old Trafford before retiring after further spells at Everton, DC United and Derby County.

Rooney was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.