The fact that Chelsea failed to convince Manchester United into selling Wayne Rooney to them over the summer doesn’t mean the “dream” is over, and it’s more than likely that they’ll make another move for the England international at the end of this season.
Despite Rooney being on better terms with David Moyes than he was with Alex Ferguson during the last couple of years in which the Scottish manager ruled at Old Trafford, there are no contract negotiations going on, something that both sides wanted to get into after the whole summer drama was over.
Rooney’s deal ends in 2015, which means that if nothing is done by the time this season is over, there will be a lot of pressure on Manchester United to either get a deal done or actually think about selling the player, who will be 29 at the time, three months before his 30th birthday.
Rooney has been the team’s best performer so far this season, scoring 10 goals and adding 15 assists in all competitions, winning his place in the lineup after Moyes’ plans were to start him off the bench early on. Manchester United haven’t been doing well in general (only 9th in the Premier League, but it has nothing (almost nothing) to do with Rooney’s ability.
There is no smoking gun in this transfer rumor – simply assumption. Jose Mourinho usually doesn’t forget about players he wants to sign, and there’s a chance that Manchester United will be a bit more agreeable to allowing Rooney to leave for the right sum if this season doesn’t go well, and he refuses to sign a new contract.
It’s hard to see what role he’ll fit in for Chelsea as they don’t play with two strikers more often than not, and who knows what will be the squad list in seven months, with plenty of players being candidates to be replaced, but Rooney is versatile enough to probably fit into any system, in a number of roles.