Rooney to Arsenal rumours - is there any substance?

Rumours in The Sun

With the second instalment of the Rooney saga in just 3 years upon us, and the striker reportedly in favour of leaving Old Trafford, there have been rumours that the former Everton striker could be a potential target for Arsenal. At first thought, it’ll always seem absurd, but is there any substance at all to this rumour by the Sun?

First of all, let’s look at the assumed fee - £25m is a reasonable price and one Arsenal could easily afford even if their record signing, Andrei Arshavin, only cost £15m.

Would Arsenal spend that much on Rooney if they were genuinely interested? Without a doubt. Manager Arsene Wenger has always been a fan of the Manchester United striker and has reiterated many times that he would spend large amounts on the “right player.”

As John Cross of the Mirror wrote, “The new £170m Puma kit deal [with Arsenal] will not kick in until 2014 and will not be announced for some time as Arsenal are still under contract with Nike. But that deal, together with the Emirates sponsorship, puts Arsenal on a totally different level. They have spending power, they can go out and buy big-name players and there is a will to ensure that Arsene Wenger goes and does that.”

However, affording Rooney’s transfer fee isn’t enough as he earns in excess of over £200k per week at Man United while the best paid player at Arsenal according to reports – Lukas Podolski – barely earns around £100k per week.

There are two scenarios – one is Arsenal actually paying Rooney a figure around his current wages which seems unlikely but plausible at the same time.

With Squillaci and Arshavin leaving this summer on a free, from those two players alone, Arsenal will have freed up around £120k per week while the possible sales of Denilson, Chamakh, Bendtner and Djourou will only free up more of the wage bill and acquire some extra funds added along with the £70m “transfer warchest” Wenger already reportedly has.

The other is Rooney taking a wage-cut in order to join Arsenal which, in all honestly, is pretty unlikely.

Aside from all this, would Rooney even consider Arsenal? If he’s questioning Man United’s ambition – a team which regularly wins trophies – imagine what would happen at Arsenal who are currently trophyless ever since 2005?

On the other hand, if Rooney wants to leave for a fresh start along with the fact that he never has a permanent position in the team, Arsenal could be a good place for that. Wenger isn’t the type to keep rotating either.

If Arsenal finish in the Champions League spots, they are on course for a promising summer and if Wenger is interested, he will no doubt tell Rooney about his plans. Improving the team, while the possibility of losing key players for the 3rd summer in a row seems highly unlikely, could entice Rooney.

Having said all this though, I, personally do not think this will happen but then again, Sol Campbell moved to Arsenal, Robin van Persie moved to Man United while Tevez moved to Man City. Football is a crazy sport.