Manchester Utd star Wayne Rooney has defeated an attempt by his former agents to sue him for £4.3m, reports BBC Sport. Sports management firm Proactive sued him saying he owed them commission on a number of lucrative deals.
After the hearing at Manchester Mercantile Court Rooney said he was "delighted" and the firm had tried to "exploit him" by demanding vast sums.
Proactive's former agent, Paul Stretford, took Rooney with him when he left the firm in acrimony in 2008.
Despite Proactive claiming he should have paid them 20% commission on his multi-million pound deals because the contract had not been properly terminated, Judge Brendan Hegarty QC ruled in the footballer's favour.
The judge said the contract that Rooney had signed when he was a 17-year-old Everton player had amounted to a "restraint of trade" as it was up to eight years long when the Football Association recommends a maximum of two years.
Rooney, who is on holiday in Barbados with his family, said: "Coleen and I have always been happy to pay all commissions due to the people who were owed them.
"But these sums were a joke and we felt they were just an attempt to exploit us.
"Fortunately the judge has knocked back their massively over-inflated claims and we are happy to pay the very small sum awarded.
"Going to court was the last thing I wanted to do.
"I was shocked that a company which represents some of Britain's biggest entertainers was going down this road which meant that private financial and commercial matters were made public."
Paul Stretford said Proactive's claims were "baseless."
"But you always have to fight for what's right in life and that's why we contested it."
Judge Hegarty had postponed his verdict until after the World Cup had finished.
