Manchester United’s want-away forward Wayne Rooney may have been told he won’t be sold this summer, but his new manager David Moyes is proving he rules with an iron fist with his latest batch of comments.
Since joining Manchester United, Rooney, for the large part, has been a regular in the starting line-up. But while having won near-everything at club level, and a host of personal awards, the 27-year old has faced question marks over his future with United for three years.
Despite having stayed at the club following his transfer request in 2010, the murmurings of a potential departure in the future have never left.
At the end of last season, the England international was left out of Manchester United’s last couple of games of the Premier League season. Sir Alex Ferguson, who was then the United manager, cited how the forward had handed in another transfer request and was given a break to ‘think things over’.
As expected, a number of side across Europe and the rest of the world enquired about Rooney’s services this summer, but Manchester United held firm.
Rooney once criticised the club for lacking ambition, and now he’s frustrated at not being Manchester United’s number one anymore. The arrival of ex-Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie last summer has seen Rooney play less and less in his favoured role up front. He’s been left out of the starting XI entirely in some matches during last season.
David Moyes’ recent comments give an indication of how this could well be the Englishman’s last season at United.
‘If for any reasons we had an injury to Robin van Persie, we’ll need Wayne. Manchester United isn’t about Rooney. Manchester United is about the team – the club.’
‘I won’t allow him to become more important than the football club and the football team, because that’s the heart of it. Maybe in a year’s time we might have to look at something else.’
David Moyes also added how, despite Rooney’s contract expiring in less than two years, the club weren’t going to offer him an initial extension.
The new Manchester United manager is proving just as tough and strong-willed as Sir Alex Ferguson, and Rooney won’t have taken to his comments well. The message is clear; Manchester United’s way, or the highway.
Last season, Rooney scored 12 goals in 27 Premier League games. His career total for club and country is 246 goals in 544 games.
Should Rooney continue to play second-fiddle to last season’s golden boot winner Robin Van Persie, and should United allow his contract to run until its final year, it’s pretty likely the two will part company at the end of next season.
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