SOCCER/Transfer deadline day: Manchester United are to pay the football agent Paul Stretford up to £1.5 million, the equivalent of over two years' wages for Wayne Rooney at Everton, for setting up the deal that saw the 18-year-old striker move to Old Trafford yesterday as the most expensive striker in English soccer.
As well as paying Everton a guaranteed £20 million, rising to £27 million depending on performance-related clauses, United's board have authorised what is understood to be the biggest payment ever received by an English-based agent.
The seven-figure sum banked by Stretford's Formation Group Plc, formerly ProActive Sports Management, shows how much money is being drained from the game at a time when the vast majority of professional clubs are in financial difficulty.
It also means that, having recruited Louis Saha, Alan Smith and Gabriel Heinze, United have sanctioned payments in the region of £3.5 million in agent fees since the turn of the year - more than Alex Ferguson has earned himself.
Everton's anguish at losing their best player will be tempered by the cheque for £10 million they received yesterday, with the same to follow on August 1st next year.
They will also receive a £3 million "contingency payment" if Rooney is still a United player in three years and a maximum £4 million in performance-related top-ups.
For example, United will pay Everton £1 million if they win the Champions League or £500,000 if they are runners-up.
For winning the Premiership it will cost them £500,000 and for finishing runners-up they will pay £250,000. An FA Cup success has been priced at £250,000 and another £1 million will come Everton's way when Rooney has won 40 England caps. Should he sign a contract extension, Everton will receive £1.5 million.
Rooney will therefore cost United a maximum of £27 million, though Everton will also be entitled to 25 per cent of any future profit on his sale.
The Everton chairman Bill Kenwright has therefore effectively edged the deal as far as he could towards meeting the club's initial £30 million of the England striker, now the most expensive teenager in world football.
In a bid to prevent Stretford trying to sell Rooney again, so making even more money from his most prized client, United will reward his company with another £500,000 if Rooney honours his contract.
Rooney, who completed a medical at a private hospital in Cheshire yesterday morning, will join football's millionaires' row after signing a six-year contract that multiplies five-fold his wages of £13,000-a-week at Goodison Park.
"It was a tough decision to leave Everton, the club I've supported and played for all my life, but I'm excited to be joining a club as big as Manchester United," said Rooney in a prepared statement.
"I feel this can only improve my career, playing with top players in top competitions like the Champions League, and I can't wait to meet up with the team."
Ferguson, who showed the striker around Old Trafford while the medical results were scrutinised, added: "I am very excited. I think we have got the best young player this country has seen in the past 30 years."
The mood at Old Trafford was in stark contrast to that at Goodison Park, with Formation confirming last night that Stretford had received death threats from supposed Everton supporters blaming him for Rooney's departure.
"Paul Stretford and his family have received a number of threats from misguided people purporting to be football fans," said a spokesperson.
"The details have been passed to the police and we will co-operate fully with any investigation."
Everton's desperate attempts to strengthen their squad failed to yield any new personnel ahead of last night's transfer deadline, leaving David Moyes contemplating the transfer window in January as the first opportunity he can spend Rooney's transfer money.
A belated move for Porto's South African international striker Benni McCarthy was scuppered when the Portuguese club changed their mind at the last moment.
