Joe Ruane’s small part in a transfer that shaped Manchester United for more than a decade may only have involved some permanent marker and a scrap of cardboard but he is still entitled to say, with a gentle laugh, “I used to always think, if it wasn’t for me, Wayne wouldn’t have signed…”

We can permit Ruane the first-name terms. He was among those present at Old Trafford 16 years ago to personally welcome the world’s most expensive teenager, a player who would go on to become United’s record goalscorer, win 11 major trophies, and personify Sir Alex Ferguson’s final stanza as manager.

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Everybody knows the story of Wayne Rooney. Boy wonder at Everton, bought by United for £27 million in 2004, England captain 10 years later.

Less famous is Ruane’s role in it all. While it may be artistic licence to suggest that the sight of an 11-year-old boy holding up a sign imploring United to “PLEASE BUY ROONEY” gave the club’s board the ultimate push they needed to meet Everton’s asking price, it would be a cold-hearted soul who denies the romance of his story.

It was on August 25, during the Champions League win over Dinamo Bucharest, that Ruane’s handiwork was spotted by the television cameras and broadcast to the nation. Six days later, just seven hours before the transfer deadline, his wish was granted as Rooney became a United player.

Ferguson said “there were plenty of eyebrows raised” at the price paid for an 18-year-old. Though the deal was negotiated at a meeting at Old Trafford following Everton’s visit on August 30 — where Bill Kenwright went as far as crying at the prospect of United trying to “steal our boy for nothing” — we can give credit to Ruane for providing a little kick up the backside to get an agreement sorted.

Ruane, evidently, knew a good player when he saw one. Taken regularly to Old Trafford by his dad Eamonn alongside his brother Tom, Ruane had watched Rooney play against United twice in the flesh, including one match where he came on as a late substitute and kept running like a locomotive at Gary Neville, and another where he drew venom from the stands for scything down Cristiano Ronaldo.

“He was fearless. He didn’t care who was in front of him,” Ruane, 27, says now, reflecting back. “He chased down the ball; he’d take on two or three players, and nine times out of 10, it worked. He would score all sorts of goals.

“We always saw him as the wonderkid who scored that goal against Arsenal, in off the crossbar. ‘Remember the name’, as it was. But that goal he scored at Elland Road for Everton stands out too, when he came on and terrorised their defence, and put it in the bottom corner.”

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Rooney then starred for England at Euro 2004 and Ruane decided United simply had to get him. The idea for a sign to declare his wishes started across the Channel. “Me and my family were driving back from a holiday in France and we stopped off at one of those wholesale wine places,” he explains. “My parents bought a few boxes.

“When we got home, all the papers were leading on the Wayne Rooney stuff. Newcastle had put the first bid in of £20 million.

“We had the Champions League match coming up because we had to go through qualifying and we were joking around. My dad said, ‘In my day, you’d make a sign and try to get spotted by the cameras’. We said we should make a sign, ‘PLEASE BUY ROONEY’.

“Then, on the day of game, we thought, ‘Might as well do it’. My grandma got a permanent marker and wrote it on the box. It was my grandma’s writing.”

Ruane took the sign to Old Trafford for the game against Dinamo Bucharest that Wednesday night. With his seat in the Stretford End, he was in the eyeline of the broadcasters.  “W13 turnstile,” he says, proudly.

“I took the sign towards the tunnel and one of the photographers saw it as an opportunity to get some coverage of this Wayne Rooney situation. It was on ITV at half-time. My parents rang me and said, ‘By the way, Gabby Logan has just mentioned you on ITV’. That was fun as an 11-year-old.”

Stuart Mathieson, the United reporter for the Manchester Evening News, got in touch with Ruane for an article, before ensuring the episode had a pleasant ending once Rooney had put pen to paper.

Ruane says: “On the day of the signing, my dad rang up Stuart and asked, ‘Is there any chance you could somehow sort a meeting with Wayne and Sir Alex?’.

“It was a shot in the dark. But Stuart contacted the PR people at Manchester United, who thought it was a good idea. We then had an hour and a half to get from our house to Old Trafford.”

Normally, that wouldn’t be any problem for a local season ticket holder but the Ruane family lived in Leeds, so time was tight. Dad Eamonn was raised in Wythenshawe but attended Leeds Trinity University and ended up staying in the city after graduating. Nevertheless he “indoctrinated” his sons in the red of United.

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Anyone who has done the drive across the Pennines between Leeds and Manchester knows 90 minutes doesn’t leave much breathing room and, in Ruane’s case, the traffic on the M62 was “rubbish, naturally.”

“We had a cement-mixer in front of us,” he says. “Five mile an hour. We just managed to get to Old Trafford in time.”

Adrenaline pumping, Ruane’s father pulled up outside the stadium and flung open the door. “Someone from United got to the car and said, ‘We’ve got to go now’. We had five minutes and next thing you know, I’m being guided down the secret tunnels at Old Trafford to pitchside. It was a blur.

“I was a bit overawed by the situation but Sir Alex beckoned me over. He grabbed the sign and whacked me on the head with it. He was funny.

“He asked me, ‘What name have you got on your shirt?’ so I turned round: ‘Smith 14’.

“’Rooney 8′ would have been more apt but I went to a school full of Leeds fans, so when Man United signed their golden boy Alan Smith, he was one of my favourites. That was a way of teasing my mates.

“Rooney didn’t say much but he was 18 at the time, so he must have been overawed by it all, too. I was lucky enough to get a signed shirt off him, and I have that framed up.”

There remains an element of wonder in Ruane’s voice when he concludes: “It was a completely surreal experience. Sky Sports got in touch and came round to my house. I’ve got it on VHS and I cringe when I watch myself. Eughh. I basically say I’m happy Rooney has signed. But it was about 10 takes before I got it right.”

Ruane was in the stands for Rooney’s debut against Fenerbahce a month later – delayed after his metatarsal injury – and his hat-trick was instant evidence of money well spent.

There was a twist in the tale though. By July 2013, Ruane had changed his mind on Rooney, giving an interview to the Manchester Evening News where the headline this time was “PLEASE SELL ROONEY”.

Ruane, already aggrieved by Rooney’s public transfer request in 2010, felt the time to cut the cord had come when he asked to leave again in Ferguson’s final year. “He wanted big signings when Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez left but then got frustrated when Robin van Persie became top dog,” Ruane says. “What did he expect?”

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On this occasion, United ignored his pleas. Rooney stayed on under David Moyes, signed a new contract in February 2014, and surpassed Sir Bobby Charlton at the top of the club’s in the scoring charts.

He was serenaded by United fans during this month’s FA Cup tie at Pride Park but Ruane was not in attendance. “I had a ticket for the Derby County game but I got ill and wasn’t able to go,” he says. Despite his differences with Rooney’s actions, Ruane would have cheered a goal by Derby’s captain that night.

“You can only hold grudges for so long,” he says. “Or you can look at what he’s done for United. Three years ago, it would have hurt me to say that. But you can’t argue with the facts. Overall, he won so many trophies.

“He took up the mantle and scored 20-plus goals a couple of seasons on the trot after Ronaldo left. He was an unselfish player, too — OK being wide left or right, and even central midfield. He did a captain’s performance against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final. His contribution to United was immense.”

(Top photo: Paul Barker/AFP via Getty Images)