The Manchester United captain’s birthday is a day before the 170th derby against Manchester City and the stats stack up to suggest he will leave an indelible mark on the Premier League and beyond in the years to come

In the countdown to his 30th birthday Wayne Rooney reflected on what pleases him most when playing the game he loves. The greatest joy derived from a career that ranks as one of the finest of his generation is from the collective, the ethos of the group.

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“I’m sure if you follow my career over the years, I’ve always been a team player,” he said. “I want to score goals but the main aim is to be a team player – and that’s what I’ll continue to do. There’s nothing better than being successful as a team, to enjoy it with the players and coaches you’ve worked with. It’s an amazing feeling.”

This philosophy makes the Manchester United and England captain’s Premier League goal record even more impressive as he turns 30 on Saturday. When he leads the side out the following day against City at Old Trafford for the 170th Manchester derby Rooney’s count will stand at 187. That is 11 more goals than Alan Shearer’s 176 at the same age, 13 more than Thierry Henry’s 174 and 35 more than the 152 scored by Robbie Fowler, the fourth man on the goals-at-30 list.

The number of strikes created by Rooney shows the team man he is so proud to embody. He has nearly double the assists of those made by Shearer at the same age: 90 to the latter’s 46. Henry created 74, 16 fewer than Rooney. Andrew Cole – whose 136 finishes places him sixth on the at-30 list – is next behind Henry with 49.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Wayne Rooney’s first Premier League goal – for Everton against Arsenal on 19 October 2002. Illustration: Guardian

These statistics form the bedrock for the case billing Rooney as a Premier League great. The silverware and personal accolades he has secured offer formidable evidence, too. Rooney has won five Premier League titles, the Champions League, two League Cups, a Fifa Club World Cup, the PFA and Football Writers’ Player of the Year, the PFA Young Player of the Year, he was voted into the Uefa Euro 2004 team of the tournament at 18, and he has been England’s player of the year three times.

There is also the varied Rooney aesthetic. This is a forward who scores the goal-sniffer’s goal and the Roy of the Rovers goal. Who can forget the sublime overhead volley finish in the 2011 Manchester derby at Old Trafford? And, if doing all of this at the top level year in, year out is a further mark of the very best, then Rooney’s consistency is final.

For England he has just beaten Sir Bobby Charlton’s mark to register a 50th finish, with 18 assists in 107 appearances. He has 236 with 119 assists in all competitions for United. He accrued 17 with eight assists in 77 appearances for Everton. The career goals total stands at 303 in 674 appearances with 145 assists.

These are undeniably significant figures. Over the 13 seasons of a career that began on 17 August 2002 when David Moyes chose him to start in Everton’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur, Rooney has operated in every midfield position and attack. The archetypal total footballer is, as he posited before Wednesday’s Champions League draw with CSKA Moscow, the archetypal team footballer.

Shearer ended his own stellar career as the Premier League’s top scorer on 260 strikes. It means after turning 30 he notched 84 more. Rooney’s finish at Everton on Saturday drew him level with Cole’s final total of 187, of which 51 came after his 30th birthday. Unlike Henry, who departed Arsenal for Barcelona two months before turning 31 and who added only one more Premier League goal, Cole was still playing in the competition at 37.

Despite being criticised at times for his attention to conditioning Rooney has managed to avoid the crippling knee and leg injuries all players dread. There have been metatarsal and ankle injuries but no serious hamstring, calf or groin problems – and this gives Rooney optimism for the future. “I have a lot of years ahead of me. I have had no major muscle injuries,” he says.

Shearer retired at 35. His career was blighted by serious injury, which made his achievements more admirable. Given Rooney’s desire to continue for the foreseeable future, his ability to operate in differing roles and his benign injury record, he should play until the same age as Shearer, at the very least.

That means the Liverpudlian should be able to surpass Shearer to set a new goal record. To become the all-time Premier League assist leader Rooney needs 73 more, to pass the 162 of another United stalwart, Ryan Giggs. Rooney’s 90 have come at around 7.5 a season – although there is still two thirds of the current term to play – a ratio that would allow him to pass Giggs if he were to play until 40 as the Welshman did.

On 19 October 2002 Rooney announced himself with a 90th-minute humdinger against Arsenal at Goodison Park that ended their 30-match unbeaten league run. A feathered touch plucked the ball from the air before Rooney swivelled, surged forward and, with the composure of a 26-year-old not the 16-year-old he was, directed a sweet right-foot tracer in off the bar that ensured a flailing David Seaman had no chance.

It made Rooney the Premier League’s youngest scorer. It prompted the commentator, Clive Tyldesley, to say: “Wayne Rooney, five days short of his 17th birthday, has just grown up.” It caused Arsène Wenger to say afterwards: “He’s supposed to be 16. At that age, Rooney is already a complete footballer. The guy can play. He’s the best English under-20 I’ve seen since I came here [in 1996]. He can play people in, he’s clever and a natural, built like a Gascoigne with his low centre of gravity. And he can dribble – I like strikers who can dribble.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Wayne Rooney’s most recent Premier League goal – for Manchester United against Everton on 17 October 2015. Illustration: Guardian

In this glowing praise is a clue to why there can still be reservations about Rooney. He did indeed love a mazy run in his teenage years. Two summers later at Euro 2004, when still only 18, Rooney was in the prime of his bullocking youth. He terrorised defences and thrilled the cognoscenti by becoming the championship’s youngest scorer, ending with four goals as he appeared certain to become the next true great of the world game.

Rooney’s participation was ended by a metatarsal injury in the quarter-finals against Portugal. It also ended England’s hopes and the sight of Rooney in full-force attack-and-dribble mode at a major tournament – in the domestic game there would be only ever more fleeting glimpses, too.

His 2006 World Cup was blighted by another metatarsal injury, this time before the finals. It left Rooney struggling for fitness and may have fuelled the frustration that initiated his sending off against Portugal in another quarter-final disappointment. There were also further tame offerings at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups and the 2012 European Championship.

Wenger also said after that maiden league goal in 2002: “If he can take Henry as a model, he’ll go a long way.”

He has. He continues to do so. The next fascination is to see where Rooney goes from here. Where his career will take him between now and 24 October 2020, when Rooney will celebrate his 35th birthday.