There was a time when Wayne Rooney was seen as the face of Manchester United, and a player who would retire a Red Devil.
Now, he may only be around for a few more months.
The Daily Telegraph is reporting that Rooney is ready to leave Manchester United, and it's a falling out with manager Alex Ferguson that has the England star ready to leave. Real Madrid and Manchester City are identified as potential destinations for Rooney (though Manchester City seems like the unlikeliest of suitors).
Rooney has been struggling badly since last spring, and has managed just one goal this season. Manchester United could be ready to cut ties and cash in on a player who remains highly-coveted by several of the world's top clubs.
What do you think of this development?
Share your thoughts below.
*sell
well, JM says they are making no moves in January. however, he also says he needs another striker. i could see madrid make a move for him, especially if they sale Kaka.
I agree right now he’s not first choice. But Real have a small team (relatively speaking) and he’s more than adequate cover at any of the attacking positions. Plus, Rooney is a fighter and will fight to start. I’m not saying it’s ideal or even a good idea to buy him, but it’s RM, what’s another GBP 60M. Oh and don’t forget about Kaka 🙂
Benzema is a bit player, ten minutes here and there. I don’t see Rooney as someone who would come off the bench, especially since he would cost a ton of money. Who do you take off the field? I would not play him over Ronaldo, Higuain, Di Maria, or Ozil.
Benzema is pretty terrible also so as it is, Rooney would fight him for the 2nd striker spot. Managers love that kind of training ground competition (not to mention world-class players). Rooney is also extremely versatile and can plug in anywhere in the attacking bands of the 4-2-3-1. Anyway my point is Mourinho would buy him in a second.
I second that….. Henry+Rooney would equal unstoppable….
The Telegraph is not a tabloid. And now the other broadsheets are confidently reporting it as well.
I don’t know as much about Rooney as others here seem to, but in my assessment of him through the years, I’ve noted him to be a bit of a “hot head,” easily taken out of his game by another player who knows how to push his buttons. In regard to his current situation, I suspect his form dropped off some, he received a little criticsism, didn’t like being criticized, and it spiraled downward from there.
A new club may be the answer, but my stronger opinion is that a little more maturity may be a better answer.
I never would have thought in a million years SAF would jettison Becks. So this isn’t all that surprising. As someone above said, no one is bigger than the team. And MU always has someone ready to step up. As a MU fan, it’s weird…he hasn’t produced in about 7 months but he’s so ingrained as part of the fabric at MU you’d hate to see him go. Oh well, what have you done for me lately?
Josh D, Fergie can’t convince Rooney to stay if Sir Alex is dissing him, benching him and, if reports from the press are to be believed, openly feuding with him in the dressing room.
Sir Alex has fallen out with folks before, and you’ll notice he’s still there, while Beckham, Cantona, and Ruud are not.
If they spend the money on talent instead of debt.
No one player is bigger than the club. We’ve dealt with Ruud leaving, Cantona, Ronaldo, Beckham, etc. We’ll stay strong and move past this episode.
Saying that, I trust Fergie to work his magic and convince him to stay.
#rooneytostpauli trending on twitter. love it.
I must have ESP. After hearing about their feud and then Rooney being left on the bench Saturday, I thought maybe Rooney could be on his way out. It seems that could be the case this winter. He should go back to Goodison Park.
This is a blessing in disguise for Manchester United. Their squad is so old and they need to get some new faces in there. Selling Rooney would give them the funds needed to get some hot young guns in there.
He’s not going to Liverpool, don’t worry. Rooney is from the blue half of Liverpool.
he’s in poor form. he sucked in the world cup and hasnt recovered since. he doesnt even try as hard – he came off the bench this weekend.
if he goes to Madrid, there’s no way he’d start over in-form players like:
Higuain
di Maria
Ozil
not to mention ronaldo. Madrid is loaded.
Complete, utter nonsense.
Which is why he should come to MLS.
Not sure if this is pure rumor. Stands to reason that Rooney and Sir Alex are at odds. Why isn’t Wayne playing in all these games after he’s said he’s ready. He’s fiery and I think he’s pissed to be benched.
This is 100% true.
He isn’t good enough to play with Madrid.
Rooney is overrated, that is all.
I could see him go to Madrid or Barcelona. But please, anywhere but Liverpool. I never had anything against Liverpool before, but now that NESV just bought them, I now have this subconscious disdain for them… lol.
I think the Rooney-to-MLS comments here are dripped in sarcasm… lol
yes, but, would he really care? If they were going to pay him what I reckon they’d pay him, I’m not sure I would.
Ambiguous sarcasm? I can’t tell.
Rooney would be reviled the rest of his life by Manchester United supporters if he transferred to City. They could accept a player going to Madrid or Barcelona, even Arsenal, and still be supportive of what he did for the club in the past. But, they would never forgive a switch to City.
Maybe, but Ives tends to avoid the usual rumor-mongering.
Not many teams on the planet could afford him. I assume they would want something in the vicinity of Ronaldo money ($115 million). That narrows his options considerably.
Malaga’s new owner has deep pockets . . .
All I’m going to say is wow.. nice, well thought out, intelligent comment
I think that once Rooney leaves others will step up. He needs to leave for his shadow to be lifted. Same as with Ronaldo.
I just sold Rooney on both of my fantasy teams.
I do think his poor form is his own fault. Especially if it is because of his personal life.
Who ever thinks that Rooney is coming to mls is nuts as much as i wood love to see him in ny it is not happing at this time maybe in 5 to 7 years time.
I doubt for one moment than Rooney goes to Real Madrid. They are a class above a player like him. Personally I think he is too slow, and lacks the technical ability to play in their high powered offense. Or in La Liga at all for that matter.
I have to disagree with your characterization of Rooney as having only “potential” prior to playing for Ferguson. You’re not wrong about Ronaldo, who was a flashy but not very effective young winger for Sporting, coming to Ferguson’s attention with a good performance in a friendly against Man United. But Rooney was known to everyone when he played for Everton. At age 16, he was a first choice Premiership striker. Every English club with money tried to buy him because he was obviously a tremendous talent. Rooney forced Everton’s hand by refusing to sign a contract extension. Moyes let him go for £26 million, a huge sum then and still impresive today. (By comparison, Ronaldo’s transfer fee was less than half that sum.)
Not to say that Ferguson didn’t help Rooney tremendously, but he was far more than “potential” at Everton.
Well TFC wears red, and sometimes the club can be compared to the devil, so… come to the TFC red devils!
absolutely true… It still bugs me they didn’t make a play for him back then. But hey, when you can spend 12 million pounds on a little-known Portugese forward you’ve never seen play, you gotta do it
Undoubtedly just tabloid BS, I’m sure Rooney will make a statement this week denying it, although I’d love to see him get a fresh start at a team I don’t f’ing hate
LOL!
Missing out on Ozil over the summer seems even more important now.
Would be interested to see what Real Madrid would do with Rooney. Mourinho is certainly adept at integrating big egos and has been complaining about his lack of forwards (Higuain and Benzema are the only two on the roster). But where do you play him? Although this may sound heretical, Higuain is a better player than Rooney right now. Rooney on the wing instead of Di Maria? No. Would be be willing to come off the bench? Doubtful.
Which other clubs could afford him? Inter? AC Milan? I doubt Barca has any interest. Bayern Munich? I don’t see him being sold within the EPL. How about the Galaxy?
As always SAF will not allow any player to become bigger the Man Utd…. Ince, Hughes, Kanchelskis, Stam, Van Nistelroy, Beckham, Ronaldo and now the next one looks like it will be Rooney. All the above players looked like they were at the top of the powers and SAF got rid. His only thought is and always has been what is best for Man U.
As a United fan hopefully he doesnt go, but if he does, cant see him anywhere else in England and can you really see Wayne and Colleen learning Spanish or Italian and fitting in in Barca, Madrid, Milan or anywhere else?
It’s Ronaldo that is missed, not Tevez. And at his height, Ronaldo was more important to United than Rooney.
What do I think of this development? It sounds highly unlikely to me. Is the Daily Telegraph a good source of information, or just part of the rumor-mill that is the English press?
With all of Rooney’s problems if he wants to start over and get his personal life in order, the best thing that he could do is get out of England. The tabloids have annihilated him and I think going to Spain might be just what the doctor ordered.
I also think Sir Alex wouldn’t mind him leaving knowing that until Wayne gets his head straight, he will not help ManU. It will be a tough spring if Wayne leaves but ManU will find someone else.
It looks to me like they are missing Ronaldo and Tevez right about now.
Awesome! More minute for Chicharito. Besides they don’t need rooney. 🙂
Haha maybe he can sign with New York Red Bulls. Would make a nice replacement for Angel.
i like rooney but if he is being a little bia, then he could go join real madrid, man city and play with them. Yea he is a terrific striker, but id rather cash in and put some of it to the debt and the rest to new players. I dont think ever a player is above a team. exception maradona, maybe.
one thing Furguson knows how to do is make stars out of players, look at Ronaldo, look at even Rooney? all these players were before him were potentials. Just Like Hernandez is currently. With the guidance of Furguson Chicharito can become a ligitamate star.. Rooney wont even be missed, just like Ruud was not . Man U knows how to spot talent and replace missing links. No one will miss Rooney if he leaves i promise that. They not win this year but all it takes is a year for Alex to figure things out and create a world class team.
Wow. Manchester City would Really make Ferguson pay with a front line of Tevez and Rooney.
Terrible news for me. I hope they can work it out but it isn’t looking good.
Red Bulls will have a open DP slot next year after Angel leaves.