Only a few days ago, Jose Mourinho claimed that he would never sell Wayne Rooney as the striker has earned himself the status to decide his own future at Old Trafford. It is not a secret that Mourinho tried to sign Rooney in his second spell at Chelsea; for this reason, Rooney was expected to be one of the important players under the Mourinho era at Old Trafford. It indeed started out well for Rooney and Mourinho, but the last couple of months have been quite remarkable.
Rooney is no longer a first choice and a couple of decent results – with the current system and the players – for the first team could permanently relegate him to the bench. Incredibly, The Sun even claims that the striker has been informed by the club that he will no longer be a first choice. It is seen as an indirect hint from the club that the 31-year-old could consider offers elsewhere. There will certainly be no shortage of interested clubs, and the player only has two and half years left on his contract.
The major problem, though, could be his £250,000 per week wages unless he decides to move to the Chinese league, where money seems no objective at the moment. If this report is true, it would mark an incredible fall from grace for the player. Many see Rooney as a legend at United as he is only three goals short of matching Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of 249 goals for the club in all competitions. However, he will also be remembered for wanting to leave before forcing the club to offer him extravagantly wages. Incredibly, Rooney managed to get any contract of this wish twice.
His current contract pays him £250,000 per week but his performances have nowhere been near enough to the figure. Of course, he has been shuffled out on the pitch quite a lot in the last three years under the regimes of David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, and recently, Jose Mourinho. However, they should not be branded as an excuse when he is one of the world’s best-paid sportsmen.
It is also quite possible that Rooney may come back in incredible fashion to stamp his position in the squad. After all, his last start in the league was only just over a month ago in the loss against Watford. After showing a slight upturn in results, United are once again struggling with poor form and have managed only one win in the last five league matches. A humiliating 4-0 loss against Chelsea on Sunday coupled with a heavyweight clash in the EFL Cup against Manchester City on Wednesday night could see Rooney back in the first team soon.
