Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney gave evidence about his finances at a court case on Friday but kept his earnings away from public scrutiny by revealing them only on a piece of paper.
Rooney and his agent are fighting a lawsuit seeking 4.3 million pounds ($6.7 million; €4.9 million). The 24-year-old player went into the witness box on Friday during a hearing arising out of his agent's work with sports management company Proactive.
Paul Stretford left the company in acrimonious circumstances in October 2008 and Proactive is demanding he and Rooney pay commission on the multimillion pound deals he negotiated for the player and his wife Colleen since then.
Rooney said Stretford, rather than Proactive, was entitled to the commission after the agent left the company.
"I wanted Mr. Stretford to look after me," the striker told the court. "I didn't think Proactive could provide the services. Nobody from Proactive called me to say 'we can provide the services for you'."
Rooney acknowledged that Stretford had helped him become "a very wealthy young man".
But when he was asked by Proactive's lawyer Ian Mill about his own earnings from his salary with Manchester United and his personal commercial and endorsement deals, he made sure the details did not become public.
Instead of giving details from the witness box, Rooney produced a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and handed it to Mill, who then passed it on to Judge Brendan Hegarty.
The court has heard that United manager Alex Ferguson had said that Rooney could have no more than five sponsorship deals.
"You're allowed five sponsorship deals. What's that based on?" Mill asked him.
"It is based on what my manager tells me," Rooney replied.
The hearing is set to last at least another week.
