While
it has been quiet on this front for most of Manchester United pre season in
Asia, the saga is far from over. The lack of ‘noise’ coming from Wayne Rooney
and Manchester United does not constitute a backing down of either side…
Most
Manchester United fans would prefer to see this saga put to rest for good, it
seems that as the transfer window draws closer, this will be just the
beginning. Wayne Rooney is understood to be NOT backing down on his stand to
leave Old Trafford and Chelsea just had their second bid – understood to be in
the region of £25 million plus add-on REJECTED. Chelsea meanwhile will continue
to test Manchester United resolve with further bids.
It
is reported that Rooney injured his shoulder during Manchester United’s close
door training with Real Betis and hence missing the trip to Stockholm for pre
season friendly. He might miss Rio Ferdinand’s testimonial and even possibly
the Community Shield against Wigan this Sunday. There is also suggestion that
Manchester United will try to prevent Rooney (should he end up joining Chelsea)
to play for Chelsea until after the clash with Jose Mourinho’s side on 26th
August. With so many matches Rooney stands to miss, he will not hit the ground
running as he is short on match fitness – the last game Rooney started was against
Arsenal on 28 April. Even England’s manager Roy Hodgson has his concern with
his main striker’s lack of matches, considering England has two crucial World
Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine in early September.
It
is understood that a major concern for Wayne Rooney would be the reactions from
fans – Manchester United’s fans. Rooney is understood to be more worried with
how fans, or public perceive him, in other words - reputation. He must have
learned his lesson from the previous run-ins with the fans. Personal egos aside,
Rooney should also consider his family wellbeing – imagine being targeted
everywhere they go (presuming Rooney destination is in England).
With
silence from Wayne Rooney’s camp, and Manchester United insisting he is not for
sale, even Rooney’s relationship with his current teammates is understood to be
strained. Senior players like Ryan Giggs, Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand are
outspoken and influential figures in United’s dressing room. All have tried in
their capacities to convince Rooney to stay and yet the saga continues. All
this leave David Moyes with an important decision - persists with United’s
initial stand or gives way - in order to counter the destabilizing effect of
Rooney’s presence in the dressing room. By giving way to Rooney in allowing him
to leave, David Moyes could inevitably open up invitations from critics on his
start as Manchester United’s manager.
This
could be what Rooney’s camp wanted all along – an untenable position for Wayne
Rooney at Manchester United – so that he could engineer a move out in a way
that will save his public image and reputation. However Manchester United hard
stance of not selling to Premier League rivals will not smoothen Rooney’s
‘engineered’ move. As of now, there are no takers from clubs abroad. Of the
likely clubs potentially capable of vying for Wayne Rooney’s signature, only
Real Madrid looks a better destination. That too, will depends on how the
Gareth Bale’s transfer took shape in the next few weeks. Barcelona and Bayern
Munich do not seem to register interest of any sort on a player of Rooney’s
quality. Unless of course Rooney prefers French challenge!
We
do hope a player of Wayne Rooney’s quality will stay but at the same time we
also believe Manchester United, with its history, its success and its heritage
will be bigger than any one player – what do you think?
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