Just as Manchester United appear to have finally coaxed Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho into submission in his attempts to take Wayne Rooney to west London, another suitor is reported to have entered the equation. Today’s Daily Telegraph is reporting that real Madrid plan to test United’s determination to hang on to their striker in the summer. The potential for success of the venture will rest very largely on the circumstances that the Old Trafford club find themselves in at season’s end of course.
The summer will see Rooney enter the final year of his contract, and with the player unlikely to commit himself to any new deal before the end of the season, the situation at that time will be hugely influential. Should United manage to perform a renaissance of their form and finish in the top four, thus qualifying for the Champions’ League, their hand in encouraging Rooney to sign a new deal will be strengthened massively. Should the reverse apply however, and they only qualify for the Europa League, or even miss out on qualification for European competition altogether, it would cast a massive doubt over the issue.
The report in the telegraph highlights that one of Los Blancos’ targets is now effectively out of reach as Sergio Aguero has signed a new long-term deal at Manchester City. The other potential targets, Radamel Falcao and Luis Suarez also carry difficulties. Although there were early season rumours of Falcao being unsettled in France, these have seemed to fade away of late, and unless something changes in Monaco, it would cost a lot of money to prise the Colombian away. That may however change as the season wears on, but it’s a situation that still involves an existing long contract.
Suarez’s case appears similar to Rooney’s, except of course with the fasct that he signed a long term deal in the summer, which may or may not include an escape clause should the Reds fail to qualify for the Champions’ League. The problem is of course that even if they don’t the fee required would still be well beyond the £25million or so Madrid envisage offering United should the summer’s circumstances at Old Trafford favour their move.
Currently French striker Karim Benzema is the only recognised, first eleven, centre forward in Madrid’s squad and with Ronaldo and Bale to play either side, completing the triumvirate of world class players as a strike force would be a mouth-watering option for Florentino Perez. The prospect would probably also be alluring for Rooney himself.
When Mourinho admitted defeat in his pursuit of Rooney. as he conceded that United would simply not sell him to another Premier League club, he offered what seemed a mischievous barb at the end by saying that he thought it far more likely that they would sell him abroad. It may turn out to be a prescient comment. There is of course no guarantee that United will sell Rooney, regardless of their circumstances come season’s end. It’s true to say however that Real Madrid do have a way of getting their transfer targets. Just ask Spurs.
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