Maybe there’s more than some truth to the rumors that Manchester United want to really sell Wayne Rooney this time; that Alex Ferguson has had enough from his weight going up and down, from his fitness and attitude problems. Slight glitch in the system – Maybe no one wants him, or at least to pay for him.
Wayne Rooney makes £250,000 a week, a raise he got after signing a five year deal in the middle of the 2010-2011 season. Those were troubled times between Rooney and Ferguson: The manager stated that Rooney wants to leave, and the English forward claimed it wasn’t about money. Today, some believe it had to do with the team not bringing in quality players, maybe referring to someone like Robin van Persie. And now Van Persie is here, scoring and doing well, while Rooney has lost his status as the star of the team.
One benching doesn’t mean a team is getting rid of its best player since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009, but this isn’t the first time Rooney and Ferguson have seemed to be breaking apart. Maybe this time it’s more “4-real” than ever before. The problem is going to be finding someone not only to pay, what, £30 million for the player, but take on his wages, which Rooney isn’t likely to agree to reduce on.
Chelsea and Manchester City won’t be the clubs that take on the player, at least so it seems. City don’t plan on purchasing any striker until they do sell Edin Dzeko, and even then, it seems Falcao and Edinson Cavani are more to their liking. Maybe even Neymar. Chelsea are probably going to be a little more watchful of their spending with the FFP regulations, and trying to sign Rooney doesn’t look like a likely scenario.
Who else is capbale? The Russian clubs, especially Anzhi and Zenit, have the resources to pay for both the transfer fee and the wages, but it’s hard to believe Rooney will do a Samuel Eto’o and leave, pretty much in the prime of his career, and spend his remaining viable footballing years away from the mainstream leagues. That leaves four options, but only one real one.
Real Madrid have been interested in the past, but it’s not going to happen. Not with the financial situation being what it is, and simply because both them and Barcelona have other plans regarding the future, and it doesn’t include breaking the bank on the 27-year old. Bayern Munich might clear a lot of funds for spending next season, but Rooney isn’t on the table. Paris Saint-Germain might be the only remaining option, but a lot of that has to do with the way the management looks in a few months – Leonardo and Carlo Ancelotti might not stay beyond this season.
Maybe this is real, the whole Rooney-leaving-United ordeal. Even if it is, there’s no option, at the moment, that looks like a clear-cut way for Manchester United to make a profitable breakaway.