DAVID MOYES believes Wayne Rooney can become the best player in the world – as he revealed the phone call that ended the long-running feud between the duo.

Rooney makes his latest return to Goodison with Manchester United this afternoon widely regarded as being in the finest form of his career.

Moyes fell out with the England international prior to his acrimonious £27million move to Old Trafford in 2004, with the pair later involved in a libel dispute following claims by Rooney in his autobiography that was settled two years ago.

But the duo have since patched up their differences with the Everton manager giving his former striker a glowing tribute yesterday.

“Wayne phoned me up a year ago to apologise for his book and to say that the things he’d put in his book were wrong, and he’d made a mistake,” said Moyes. “I had to give him a lot of credit for that.

“I got the impression it was something Wayne wanted to do, rather than someone suggesting it to him. It came across that he wanted to make the call and set things straight between us, and I appreciated that.

“For me it showed his maturity, and he thanked us for the help that had been given to him at Everton.

“The court case had been won anyway so it was over as far as I was concerned, but I said to him: ‘No problem, that’s fine. It just shows the maturity and where you’re coming to’.

“Now he’s the one who’s sorting out the young players at Man United. Anyone who’s stepping out of line, not doing it right, he’s the one who’s looking after them. Everybody gets a bit older and wiser.”

Rooney has been in outstanding form for United, scoring 25 times this season and on target twice in the Old Trafford outfit’s 3-2 Champions League win at AC Milan in midweek.

And Moyes is convinced the 24-year-old can blossom into the finest footballer on the planet.