Andy Cole urges Rooney to stay with United

After rumours of Wayne Rooney leaving Manchester United appeared, former United player Andy Cole has advised him against it.

Andy Cole has warned Rooney not to make a move away from his present club Manchester United. He was quoted saying that his decision of quitting the Old Trafford based club in 2001 was a huge mistake he made.

Wayne Rooney was rumoured to leave the Reds’ camp after he was made to warm the bench during their last leg match against Real Madrid in the Champions League. It was also evident from the reports that some European clubs including Bayern Munich and PSG have set sights on him.

The former United striker, who moved to Blackburn Rovers after failing to be a regular part of the playing XI during his stint with Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, feels that Rooney has lot more to offer to the side and he should learn to respect the decisions taken by the coach.

Cole expressed his feelings saying, “Wayne is quality. He will play numerous amounts of games for United. He has a lot more games in him here and he will score numerous amounts of goals here as well. I cannot see it being a problem. Everyone has been left out of big games and then come back the week after. The manager leaves big players out of big matches. It has happened down the years. In the Treble-winning year, we get to the FA Cup final and he leaves players out.

“The last game of the Premier League season he left players out against Tottenham, I was one of them. The next big one you could be playing in. It’s part and parcel of being at a club like United,” he followed.

Rooney was given a run for his money to keep his place in the side after the arrival of star striker Robin van Persie into the Reds camp as was the case with Cole after Ruud van Nistelrooy was signed up.

Cole went on to say, “I can understand how Wayne may feel. I look back on what happened to me and, if I had not been so headstrong and stubborn, I could have stayed at United. I was not playing regular football at the time, so I was not the happiest man in the world and I was very stubborn and I made up my mind. I look back on it in hindsight and I think to myself, ‘I should have stayed’. But ultimately, when you are young and vibrant you still want to play football week in, week out. You make a decision and you have to stand by it.

FILE PHOTO: Andy Cole during his days at Old Trafford.

“That’s what I did. But I look back now and realise I made the wrong decision. You look back and say, ‘I should have done this and I should have done that’. I should have finished my career here. I had a great opportunity to do that. I had just signed a new contract. I had a fantastic relationship with the manager and he was always good for me. We sat down and talked about it numerous times before he actually finally said that he would let me go.”

“Before that he kept saying no and said there was no chance I could leave. But I kept at it and I made a decision. You make decisions for a reason and for me it was simply because I wanted to play,” he concluded.