A NORTH-EAST man has accused England striker Wayne Rooney of attacking him in a nightclub.

Greater Manchester Police said it would launch an inquiry after the Teesside man, named in The Sun as Patrick Hanrahan, made a formal complaint against the £28m Manchester United star.

It is alleged the 19-year-old player punched the music management student in the head three times at the Tiger Tiger bar, in Manchester city centre, in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Mr Hanrahan is alleged to have confronted Rooney about his move from Everton last year.

Rooney's agent last night denied the footballer had lashed out and insisted the player had not responded to the taunts.

Mr Hanrahan, of Stockton, told The Sun: "He went absolutely crazy and swung his arms at me.

"He landed three punches - two on top of my head and one on the right side of my forehead."

It is claimed that the student screamed at the player, calling him "treacherous" and shouted "once a blue, always a blue", in reference to his former Everton career.

However, Mr Hanrahan said he had "joked" at Rooney as he walked past the footballer's group. "He came towards me and said, 'What did you say?' I repeated it and he just lunged at me."

Rooney had been in the bar with team-mates Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown and Roy Carroll when the confrontation took place at about 1am.

The players are all in national team squads for England's World Cup qualifying group match against Northern Ireland at Old Trafford on Saturday.

A spokesman for Rooney said: "Wayne was approached by a man he had never met in a menacing and threatening manner. At no stage did Wayne respond. The man was immediately asked to leave the nightclub in the company of security guards."

Greater Manchester Police confirmed a man made a formal compliant of assault last night following the incident.