FAKES

They warned anyone selling fake Rooney merchandise that they will be targeted in pubs, shops, market stalls and on the internet.

John Owen, trading standards manager at Trafford council, said:

"We seized 400 illegal items from four different operators at various points before United's Champions' League match with Fenerbahce. A lot of these people are opportunists looking to take advantage when there is a high-profile game or interest in a particular player. The Wayne Rooney situation is a good example of this."

A United spokesman said:

"Our message to those thinking of selling counterfeit goods is `Don't bother'. Sooner or later you will get caught. We monitor sites such as eBay on a daily basis and are members of a scheme provided by them which enables us to remove goods that infringe our trademarks, and also provides us with the facility to request the seller's details. Any information that is deemed of use is either investigated further by ourselves and/or is passed to the relevant trading standards department. We have passed details to our legal representatives in countries such as Thailand, so our inquiries do not stop with the UK. We have an excellent working relationship with trading standards departments around the country and provide assistance whenever we can. We also provide enforcement agencies with training as to how to determine fake goods from genuine ones. We have legal representation in many countries, in particular the Far East which is a major source of counterfeit goods, and regularly conduct raids in Thailand."