Robin van Persie: Came to Manchester United to play with Wayne Rooney

As we inch closer to the transfer deadline day, every indicator seems to suggest that Chelsea will sign Wayne Rooney. At the very least, José Mourinho will come extremely close to getting his man. Chelsea have already had two offers rejected for Rooney and they are reportedly preparing a third offer in the region of £30 million plus add-ons.

For once, Chelsea seem to be following the Real Madrid style of pursuit. It is going public about their interest for the player and also making him want a transfer.

Rooney has been training with the reserves – albeit on his own request – in the last few days. He has not yet handed a transfer request unlike Sir Alex Ferguson’s suggestion at the end of last season. This action from the striker, though, heavily indicates that he may submit a transfer request if United reject another bid.

In the meantime, Robin van Persie has stated that he wants to play with Wayne Rooney and it is one of the reasons he came to United.

Rooney, though, will look back on the statements made by Moyes a few weeks ago. Moyes suggested that Rooney will be the backup to van Persie.

Van Persie told The Sun: “Everyone wants Wayne to stay and deep down I think he feels the same. One of the reasons I joined Manchester United was to play with Wayne.

“I hope he stays. Not only is he a great goalscorer, he does so much work across the pitch. He is an asset to any team. He will come good again. He is a strong lad.”

Rooney has already pulled out of key friendly matches for United, but perhaps the biggest hint about an impending move to Chelsea has come in the last few days.

Rooney has pulled out of the Community Shield match against Wigan on Sunday, yet he is available for international duty with the England national team. England manager Roy Hodgson has included him in the squad for the meaningless friendly match against Scotland.

“He trained with the first team today (Saturday) and he did a bit of extra work, so he is probably more likely to be ready for England than he will be for us,” said Moyes to MUTV.