Patrick Rees
A lot of speculation is going around Old Trafford regarding the future of the club’s skipper, Wayne Rooney. The recently turned 31-year-old, who was once a target for Real Madrid, has completely lost his tracks and to be very fair here, he has been a victim of his own versatility. The England captain has been used on a number of positions and that has reduced his goal scoring instinct.
With all that being said, it was widely reported that Rooney might leave the club this January or in the next summer window, but the manager – Jose Mourinho – ruled out the possiblity by clearly indicating that the captain is going nowhere.
The skipper has failed to start the last four games of the Premier League for the club and looking at how the young guns are impressing, it is fair to say that Rooney will only act as a substitute for the rest of the season.
Soon after Jose Mourinho arrived, he made it very clear that Rooney won’t be playing in the midfield and in the initial games, he worked as an attacking midfielder, just behind Ibrahimovic, but failed to have any kind of impact. As a result of that, the Portuguese finally decided to drop him and this is where the rumours started to circulate. European giants like Inter Milan were linked and even a move to the MLS was reported, but what came as a surprise was the linking of the Chinese Super League.
The former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson, who is plying his trade with Shanghai SIPG, is a huge admirer of Rooney and as a matter of fact, he is the manager who gave Rooney his senior international debut to in 2003. A rumour linking Rooney with him was reported, but Eriksson has recently turned down every possibility of that happening.
He told the Sun:
“Everyone knows how much I admire Rooney. That’s one thing. To make out we are going to sign him is something else.
“There is absolutely nothing in it. Zero. It is not something we have ever even spoken about at the club – and we have been discussing our options for next season a lot.
“I have always known Rooney as a forward – one of the best I have worked with. But we already have Hulk, Elkeson and Dario Conca, who are all very good, as our forwards.
“He is still a very good player with a lot of quality. I’m sure he could come to China in the future. He is the type of player the league will be after.”
The major concern for Rooney, besides his form, is his wages. He is currently earning £250,000 per week at Old Trafford and it is very much assured that he won’t be getting anything near that in any other European or MLS club, although, the Chinese league could well afford to hand him that kind of amount.
Wayne Rooney has achieved the “Legendary” stature at the Old Trafford by his superb performances over the years, but his recent form is not at all helping his cause and looking at how the players like Mata, Rashford and Lingard are performing, it is quite fair to say that Rooney’s playing time is in danger.
