Rooney: I would NEVER have joined City..but I almost made the WORST mistake in my life

Wayne Rooney has insisted he was going to move abroad after threatening to quit Manchester United.

SunSport revealed last season that Real Madrid and Barcelona had put him right at the top of their transfer target lists.

And despite Manchester City's confidence about landing the unsettled striker during his contract controversy last month, the player himself says he was off out of the Premier League altogether.

Rooney said: "Everyone is saying that I was definitely going to Man City.

"Believe me, if I had gone it wouldn't have been in England."

Even then, would leaving Manchester United not have been the biggest mistake of his football life?

He said: "Yes, of course. You see so many players leave this club and not do so well so I am just delighted I have stayed."

Rooney admits he has had to draw on all his mental strength to battle through the most turbulent time of his career.

He has gone from hero to zero and back again in an emotional rollercoaster ride that would have flattened weaker men.

Now the player is vowing to return to the form that got him 34 goals last season and saw him scoop the individual domestic honours.

Rooney, 25, said: "I am mentally strong.

"Because the football has not been going well, and the other things that have happened, everyone has put it down to not being mentally strong enough, but I am.

"People are saying how badly I have been playing but I don't think I have played that many games for my form to have been a disaster. I am a confident person and think I can get back to the standard of last season."

Rooney's troubles have been well documented.

Off the field he was hit by revelations of his dalliance with a prostitute which threatened his marriage.

There was a summer flop in the World Cup, a public dispute with manager Alex Ferguson over an ankle injury, his threat to quit the club followed by a U-turn and then another ankle injury.

Rooney said: "It hasn't been a distraction to my football because I haven't played that much, but it has been a distraction. I am just happy it is all over now and I want to put it behind me and look forward.

"With everything that has happened it all goes a bit overboard, but I know myself I have been through patches before when I haven't played well but I have come through them.

"I know 100 per cent I will come through this one."

The first step towards regaining that blistering form of last season came on Wednesday night.

Yes, it was only a penalty and he has still not scored from open play for United since last March.

But it was a big moment on a big night at Ibrox.

Rooney said: "I was delighted with the penalty and it will give me confidence. It was a great feeling.

"It was a great relief and I am sure you could see that with my celebrations. Hopefully I can kick on from this.

"When you score it is always a special moment but to do it at Rangers - it is well known I follow Celtic - and after a hard couple of months, it was such a great feeling.

"It was nice to score but the main thing was to get back playing. I am happy with that."

The penalty in midweek masked the fact that Rooney had missed a host of chances despite looking lively.

He said: "I was happy that I was in the right positions to get the chances.

"Normally when you come back to fitness it takes you a while to get into the positions to be on the end of chances so I was happy with that.

"It was great to be back. It is obviously a while now and a lot has happened but I was delighted to be back in the starting line-up."

Rooney suffered his ankle injury in training back on October 20, the same day Ferguson made his famous Press conference address about the England star wanting to quit Old Trafford.

The manager himself mastered the player's U-turn and rehabilitation as he allowed him a break in Dubai then ordered him on an intensive week's training at the Nike HQ in the USA.

Rooney said: "Well, I wasn't going to argue with him. I needed to get the training in and if that is what they wanted me to do, then I was happy to do it and it worked out well.

"Going to the States has certainly helped me a lot.

"Normally when I have been injured it has taken me four or five games to feel I was back to full fitness and I would feel it in the last 20 minutes of matches. But against Rangers I felt good in the last 20 minutes."