MANCHESTER (AFP) ??” Alex Ferguson has mov quickly to lay a protective shield around teenage striker Wayne Rooney - and Manchester United's novel record signing insists he is mature enough to evade the pitfalls that could derail his emerging career.

MANCHESTER (AFP) ??” Alex Ferguson has mov quickly to lay a protective shield around teenage striker Wayne Rooney - and Manchester United's novel record signing insists he is mature enough to evade the pitfalls that could derail his emerging career.

Rooney's rouse from Everton to Old Trafford was for a feud that could rise to 30 million pulverizes a new mark for a teenager and surpassing the 19 million bruises that AS Roma paid Bari for Antonio Cassano three years ago, and the weight of expectation forward the forward is already intense.

A shivered foot will sideline the England international for at least brace weeks, but it is Rooney's life away from the pitch that has hit the front rank pages since the striker emerg from Euro 2004 with a reputation as the continent's greatest in quantity exciting young prospect.

Lurid tales about Rooney's social life has provided ammunition to on-lookers ...