Season’s come and go, but some players continue to be the fulcrum of a club over decades; Wayne Rooney is one of such players as he has been the heart of Manchester United for over a decade and continues to do so even after the arrival of several record breaking arrivals. When United signed the likes of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, some would have predicted Rooney’s demise from the squad. Even though debates rage every week about his best position, the England captain has been quite going about his business. As of now, he is the best player at United on a statistical basis.

Rooney has already been used in a variety of roles by Jose Mourinho. In Saturday’s loss against Manchester City, the 31-year-old was used as a right winger in the second half. In a world where players complain (aka the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Edison Cavani) when they are played out of position, Rooney has been a breath of fresh air.

Pogba has taken the headlines for his incredible transfer fee of £89 million, while Ibrahimovic has scored four goals in four Premier League games. Rooney, though, has been performing brilliantly in all areas of the pitch. He scored his only goal of the season against Bournemouth in the 3-1 win, but there have also been two assists along the way. Despite being a natural striker, Rooney has slowly perfected the art of tackling too. His best defensively was seen in the 2013-14 season when he committed fewer fouls and made more tackles.

In the current campaign, his fouls have shot up to 2 per game but with an average of one successful tackle per game. For a player with such a high forward bias, it is surprising to see Rooney average around 86% in terms of pass accuracy. This high figure must be a major factor in the former Everton star leading the assist tally for the campaign with two from the four games. There is every possibility of players like Juan Mata or one of the fullbacks being ahead in terms of crosses. Even here, Rooney steals the show with a whopping 1.8 successful crosses per game; only Antonio Valencia comes close to these figures.

Mere goal statistics may show that Rooney is on the decline. However, the opposite seems to be happening as United extract even more from a player on the verge of being the club’s record goal scorer.