David Moyes categorically ruled out any chances of Wayne Rooney leaving Manchester United in the summer, saying the forward was not for sale.
Rooney has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford, after Sir Alex Ferguson said the striker had asked for transfer at the end of last season, a statement which Rooney has reportedly denied.
Moyes, speaking at his first press conference as Manchester United manager, has no doubts where Rooney's future lies.
"Wayne is not for sale," he said. "He's a Manchester United player and he will remain a Manchester United player.
"I've been fortunate, I've known Wayne since he was 16.
"I've had several meetings with Wayne. He's training brilliantly well, he's come back in good shape and I'm really looking forward to working with him.
"We have spoken several times and as far as I've seen it, whatever happened before has gone.
"We are working together now. I see a glint in his eye, he looks happy and if he is saying I'm going to knuckle down and get it right -- let's not kid ourselves.
"He's a terrific player and let me reiterate, he's not for sale."
Moyes, though, refused to be drawn out on the conversation that Rooney and Ferguson had towards the end of last season.
"There was a private meeting between two people and I was not privy to that," Moyes added. "I'm now looking at it in my period at Man United.
"I'm really looking forward to working with Wayne and getting him to the levels I know he's capable of. I can tell you categorically that Wayne Rooney is training very well.
"If I was Wayne, you look at the legends that have played for this club. I could see George Best, Bobby Charlton, Roy Keane and I thought Wayne isn't too far away from that.
"It's not too difficult to get the goals and he could be near to that."
Contrary to reports, Moyes insisted he had absolutely no idea he was going to be named the new manager at Old Trafford and only found out a week before Ferguson's retirement announcement.
"It was a really strange situation for me." Moyes said. "I had no idea whatsoever.
"A lot of people thought I'd known something about the job. I knew nothing at all about it until Sir Alex gave me a call and asked me to come to his house.
"I was expecting him to say, 'I'm gonna take one of your players or I'm gonna do something else,' I wasn't sure what he we was gonna say to me.
"And we went in and the first thing he said to me, he says: 'I'm retiring.'
"And I said 'yeah, when?' you know, because he was never retiring, was he?
"And he says 'next week,' and his next words were 'and you're the next Manchester United manager.'
"So I didn't get a chance to say yes or no, I was told I was the next Manchester United manager by Sir Alex, so for me that was enough.
"As you can imagine the blood drained from my face -- I was really shocked. More shocked that Sir Alex had chosen to retire, but inside I was incredibly thrilled that I was going to be given the opportunity to manage Manchester United."
