Rooney cut to size in United’s game of brinkmanship

It that there is an essential truth, with the Dutchman certain to start as United’s principle forward in the coming season, leaving Rooney to compete with Shinji Kagawa for a place in van Persie’s shadow or wait for an unlikely injury.

Moyes’ determination to stamp his mark on the club has also become a factor, with the former Evertonian seemingly unwilling to let his players dictate terms. It is surely a smart move, lest the new manager appear weak within months of taking the job.

Nor can Rooney now bank on support from the terraces in what is likely to become a more aggressive PR game as the saga reaches it’s denouement. After all, while Rooney’s entourage have widely briefed the media that no formal transfer request has ever been submitted, the club called the bluff by seemingly daring the player to do so if he wants a move away.

“Manchester United isn’t about Wayne, Manchester United is about the team, the club,” said the new manager. “I won’t allow Wayne Rooney to become more important than the club and the team because that’s the heart of it.”

David Moyes dictates his own terms

Injury complimented Rooney’s insult last Friday, with the player heading home ahead of United’s tour match in Bangkok – a hamstring strain that is likely to keep the player out for three weeks.

Moyes called the problem minor, but the player’s history suggests that Rooney will be significantly behind his colleagues’ fitness levels, come the big kick off on 17 August.

It proffers Hernández, Welbeck, and Kagawa the opportunity to forge a partnership with van Persie in the Scouser’s absence – a withdrawal that may become permanent should Chelsea, Arsenal or Paris Saint Germain firm up tentative interest in the player.

The Dutchman arrives in Sydney for a week’s intensive training ahead of United’s fixture with the A-League All Stars next weekend. Saturday’s shock 1-0 defeat to Singha All Stars leaves the squad seeking to inject a more positive tone in Moyes’ second United game as manager.

Robin van Persie’s arrival will certainly provide a lift – and another sign that United has moved on since Rooney questioned the club’s “ambition” in 2010.

Monday’s £25 million bid for Cesc Fabregas could offer Moyes another option in both midfield – where Sir Alex Ferguson increasingly used Rooney last season – and as van Persie’s foil. Fabregas was one of only 13 players in Europe’s top five leagues to finish last season with both 10 goals and 10 assists.

In fact, the Spaniard scored and assisted more league goals than Anderson, Tom Cleverley, Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck combined last season, although Fabregas’s arrival at Old Trafford is surely unlikely.

Rooney, of course, was another in that exclusive club. It is the Englishman’s essential dichotomy – he is one of the continent’s most productive players even when in the doldrums of abysmal form.

Whether Moyes can bring the player’s performances around is a fascinating question – but one that’ll only be tested if Rooney blinks first in the realpoltik of the transfer market.