David Moyes says Everton can avoid selling Jack Rodwell
Rooney (centre) plays spectator as Rodwell fires in a cracker for Everton
Manager David Moyes believes Everton are a big enough club to keep hold of 18-year-old midfielder Jack Rodwell.
After joining the club in 2007, Rodwell has become a first team regular and impressed again with a goal in Saturday's win over Manchester United.
After selling Wayne Rooney to United in 2004, Moyes told the BBC: "We weren't ready when Wayne came on the scene.
"We're ready for Jack Rodwell and our team is good enough to carry a Jack Rodwell and keep bigger suitors away."
The teenager from Southport has been a revelation for the Toffees since signing at Goodison Park as a trainee three years ago and has made 26 appearances this season.
His first league goal of the campaign was a fine solo effort coming off the bench in Everton's convincing 3-1 win over Sir Alex Ferguson's side and followed Dan Gosling's second-half strike which sent them into eighth spot in the Premier League.
Rodwell is reported to be a £30m target for Ferguson and his performance will have done nothing to quash the speculation, but Moyes is confident his player will not follow Rooney to Old Trafford.
The Scot told BBC Radio 5 live's Sportsweek: "There's been quite a lot of attention towards Jack Rodwell for a while.
"But strangely enough, it was Wayne that worried me a lot more. It doesn't worry me quite so much with Jack because we've been through it before.
"The boy is going to be a good player in time but at this present time it's potential and we have to bring it along at the right pace.
"If Wayne was at Everton now I think it would be completely different. We're competing within Europe, we're trying to beat the top teams, we're at that end of the league.
Everton 'a match for any team' - Moyes
"At the time Wayne came on the scene we were fifth or sixth off the bottom so it was a completely different Everton then to what it is now."
Following back-to-back wins over league leaders Chelsea and now United, Everton are just six points away from Liverpool in fourth place, but Moyes, manager for eight years, was reluctant to start dreaming of a Champions League place.
"Obviously I'm going to try to do it but getting to the top half of the league was going to be a big achievement after the way we started," added Moyes, whose team beat Sporting Lisbon 2-1 in the first leg of the Europa League on Tuesday.
"It wasn't long ago that we were third or fourth bottom and I was looking down and a bit worried.
"Now we've got everybody fit we will try to get as far up as we can but we're coming from a long way behind."
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