Wayne Rooney has requested to leave Manchester United for the second time in his Old Trafford career, with Bayern Munich and Chelsea both interested in the striker.
On the day Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement, it was confirmed Rooney had informed United of his determination to leave the club after nine seasons.
United rejected Rooney's request a fortnight ago and said he was not sale, however had they allowed Rooney to leave it would have driven his value down in the transfer market.
His contract expires in 2015 and should United receive a fee of £25 million it is unlikely they will decline the offer.
The striker's former Everton manager, David Moyes, who is set to be announced as Ferguson's successor on Thursday, will immediately be tasked with persuading the 27-year-old to stay at Old Trafford.
Rooney informed Ferguson he wanted to leave Old Trafford ahead of the 2010-11 season, which was finally confirmed by Ferguson two months later in October.
Ostensibly, Rooney was concerned by United's activity in the transfer market and had reservations about whether the club could compete. Ferguson had brought in Chris Smalling from Fulham, Javier Hernández from Chivas Guadalajara and Bébé as the club bid to regain the league from Chelsea.
Three days after Ferguson clarified the reports, Rooney signed a new £250,000-a-week five-year deal with United, who went on to win the Barclays Premier League.
The Croxteth-born forward would prefer to stay in the Premier League, which makes Chelsea the outstanding candidate, although United will be reluctant to sell to a team determined to compete for the title again.
Rooney's representatives have also been in contact with Champions League finalists Bayern.
Moyes received an out-of-court settlement from Rooney in 2008 over allegations his former player made in his autobiography.
Among the anecdotes, Rooney wrote in his autobiography, "'You've been eating too many f****** McDonald's!' Moyes screamed at me. I protested it wasn't true."
Despite Moyes suing the England striker along with ghost writer Hunter Davies and publishers HarperCollins, his relationship with Rooney has recovered and Everton fans' animosity towards their former hero has softened since he left in 2004.
Rooney also deleted "Manchester United player" from his Twitter bio overnight.