Forward Friday

New season, new hair, but it's the same old Wayne Rooney who will be lighting up the Premier League this year.

Rooney has never been one for a quiet introduction, and it was in 2002 that he first exploded onto the scene. On 19^th October that year - five days before his 17^th birthday - Rooney scored a sensational last-minute winner for his boyhood club Everton against Arsenal at Goodison Park. It made him the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history, and catapulted him into the limelight.

Demonstrating incredible physical and technical prowess for a player so young, Rooney's performances at Everton – where he had been since the age of nine – soon convinced former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson to call him up for international duty. When he made his debut in a friendly against Australia in February 2003 aged 17, he became England's youngest ever player. His goal against Macedonia the following September made him England's youngest scorer too.

After an excellent showing at Euro 2004, Rooney made his move to Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson parted with over £25m to take the Croxteth-born 18-year-old to Old Trafford, and Rooney immediately set about justifying that fee, the highest ever paid for a player under 20.

Rooney's Manchester United debut, in September 2004, would prove even more emphatic than that first Everton goal against Arsenal. Manchester United beat Fenerbache 6-2 in a Champions League tie, and under the bright lights of Old Trafford, a rampant Rooney smashed a glorious hat-trick. In the two seasons that followed, he won consecutive PFA Young Player of the Year awards.

Rooney has since become the figurehead of Sir Alex's current crop. With a scoring rate just shy of a goal every other game, he has notched 102 Premier League goals with the Red Devils. When not scoring goals, Rooney is equally adept at laying on chances for teammates. He got 11 assists to go with his 11 goals in the Premier League last season.

Rooney's technical qualities are backed up by an incredible work-rate and desire to win. His competitive streak has overshadowed his quality at certain points in his career, but unpredictability is a crucial facet of his game. When he's firing, Wayne Rooney is as frightening as they come. Robust, bullish and with a devastating combination of pace and power, Rooney is the kind of player defenders dread coming up against.

In eight seasons at Old Trafford, Rooney has celebrated four Premier League titles, a Champions League and two League Cups. Individual awards have come thick and fast too, and he has already reached 70 caps for England, scoring 26 goals.

Since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid in 2009, Rooney has taken centre stage at Old Trafford, and this season Manchester United will be looking to bring home their 20^th league title. At just 25 years old, however, Rooney is already looking beyond that number.