The Wayne Rooney conundrum

On the 22^nd of April, Manchester United defeated Aston Villa 3-0 to clinch their 13^th Premier League title and 20^th English Championship overall. Sir Alex Ferguson’s team had reacted in the best way possible after having relinquished the title last season to Manchester City in agonizing fashion. Losing the Premier League on goal difference had clearly distressed Sir Alex to a great extent and he publicly stated that such a scenario would never occur again. Not one to make empty promises, he went ahead and secured the transfer of one Robin Van Persie, arguably the finest goal scorer in the country. Plenty of eye brows were raised because although Van Persie was coming off a 30-goal season, paying 24 million for a 29-year-old striker did not strike everybody as a good piece of business. Fast forward nine months and the Van Persie transfer is considered to be the primary factor in United taking back the crown from their cross town rivals Manchester City. Ferguson’s last transfer as a Manchester United manager had turned out to be one of his best ones.

While Van Persie was busy plundering goals, something awful was stirring up at Old Trafford. Something that had been building itself up throughout the season and now, with Ferguson’s retirement, has finally reared its ugly head. Wayne Rooney, the golden boy of United, who has been playing in Van Persie’s shadow throughout the season, is desperate to leave Manchester United. This scenario could not have come at a worse time for the club as well as for the fans. Two weeks prior to Ferguson’s retirement announcement, Rooney had reportedly spoken to him, asking for a transfer at the end of the season. But Ferguson clearly stated that the club were not willing to let him go. During the season, many reports suggested that the relationship between Ferguson and Rooney had seen better days and that Ferguson still had a grudge against Rooney for holding him and the entire club to ransom 3 years prior, a situation where Rooney got what he wanted because the thought of him leaving Old Trafford at that time was unimaginable. And Ferguson did what he had to do to keep the club’s talisman around, even if it meant bowing down to his demands.

Now however, the scenario is slightly different, Rooney is not quite the indispensable player he once was and perhaps the United brass feel his performances have not been 250,000 pounds-a -week worthy. The appointment of David Moyes has made things even worse; Rooney and Moyes have had a testing relationship and the United number 10 is not keen on working under the man who introduced him to the world of football. The situation has escalated to the point where Rooney has removed ‘Manchester United Player’ from his twitter bio, pretty much screaming out loud that he wants to leave. Amidst all of this, Rooney is set to be dropped to the bench for Sir Alex’s final home game, which will also see the Reds being presented with the Premier league trophy. The vultures have already started circling as Bayern Munich, Chelsea and even Arsenal have shown interest in securing the services of the 27-year-old. Now, if he were to leave, Bayern seems like the ideal career move; they are at the top right now and will only get better once Pep Guardiola steps in as manager next term.

As a United fan and a massive Rooney supporter, watching him part ways with the club will be absolutely gut wrenching, a sentiment that will surely be echoed by millions of other fans. However, it is looking increasingly likely that we will have to bear watching him leave Old Trafford and quite frankly, that seems better than keeping a player who does not want to stay at the club. For Manchester United, no player is bigger than the club, not even one who has scored 197 goals in 400 appearances. If Rooney wants to leave for pastures new, then by all means, let him go. Robin Van Persie is at the top of his trade so goals will definitely not be lacking next term and Kagawa’s growth had already put Rooney’s position in doubt, even before the transfer speculations started. Obviously, his departure is not the ideal scenario right now, especially with United in a sort of transition period under David Moyes, and it is certain to leave a very sizeable hole in the team. But it’s a hole that Kagawa and some new recruits can possibly manage to fill. Make no mistake, I would be absolutely delighted if Rooney stays on and continues plying his trade at United, but if he really does want to leave, it is best for both the parties to come to a reasonable agreement and put an end to his 9-year odyssey at Old Trafford, as sad a thought that is.

Well, we will always have that goal.