Manchester United: Ferguson Confirms Rooney Wants To Leave
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Ferguson Confirms Rooney Wants To Go
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Wayne Rooney wants to leave the club.
Speaking at a press conference this afternoon Ferguson said that although Rooney and his representatives had during talks in March and after the World Cup that he was willing to sign a long-term contract when his current deal expires in 2012, when talks resumed with United chief executive David Gill in August he was told that Rooney would not be signing a contract extension and that he would be looking to leave the club.
“We Can’t Understand It” – Ferguson
“We can’t quite understand why he would want to leave,” said Ferguson. “No-one can deny this club is one of the most successful in British football. We have won 40 major trophies, countless cup finals, have a fantastic history, a great stadium, great training arrangements. We don’t understand it. I can’t answer any questions about why he is doing it.”
He added that Rooney would be offered a deal that any other club would struggle to match and that the door was always open should he wish to change his mind.
“We’ve Done Everything We Possibly Can”
Speaking later to the club’s TV station MUTV, Ferguson said after the meeting in August Gill had told him “His agent said he wouldn’t sign his contract and wanted away.
“Dealing with the next step was always going to be decisive for us, how we dealt with the situation.
“I asked to have a meeting with the boy and he reiterated what his agent said, that he wanted to go.
“The one thing I said to him was ‘respect this club’, I don’t want any nonsense from you.
“I don’t know if he has done that. I have doubts on that; we are reading all these things about falling out with me and all that nonsense.
“It’s disappointing because we have done everything we possibly can to help Wayne Rooney ever since he came to the club.”
Rooney’s Ankle Injury
The United boss also suggested that Rooney has been struggling from an ankle injury this season. The injury was picked up during United’s Champions League game with Rangers last month and a scan showed that although the injury wasn’t serious there was some damage to the ankle. However, last week Rooney suggested that he was fit and he didn’t know why Ferguson had referred to any injury.
City Favourites To Sign Rooney
Manchester City are the firm favourites to sign Rooney. The Eastlands club are rumoured to be preparing a £60 million bid for the player and are ready to offer him a wage of £200,000 a week – more than double his current earnings at United.
However, the ball is firmly in Rooney’s court and questions will be asked of him as to why he wants to leave United. There has been speculation that recent allegations regarding his private life are to blame but today’s revelations suggest that Rooney’s desire to leave Old Trafford pre-dates that.
October 21st, 2010 at 9:08 am
I’d list the front runners as: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Internazionale, AC Milan and Man City. Real, AC and Barca have a plethora of attacking options, so I doubt he’ll end up there. Inter and Man City are the two remaining choices, and he’s more likely to choose Inter as he is out of England and out from under the foot of the vicious English tabloids.