The Wayne Rooney transfer saga - What could he bring to Chelsea?

With the summer transfer window underway, there have already been quite a few big name signings by big name clubs. Let’s take a look at one transfer saga that a lot of football fans around the world are excited about, the one involving Wayne Rooney.

Here’s what most, if not all of us ardent football fans know so far – It all started when Rooney wanted to leave Manchester United a few years ago due to the apparent “lack of world class players”, then the club managed to keep him by giving him a substantial pay rise and eventually buying the world class players in the form of the Japanese midfield maestro – Shinji Kagawa, and Mr. Hotshot star striker of the English Premier League – Robin van Persie.

The latter’s move resulted in the spotlight being taken off Wayne Rooney, as RvP had now become the first choice striker of the team. To add to all that, Rooney was being played in the Central Midfield position towards the end of the season, rather than his preferred position up front. Any player of Rooney’s caliber would feel like leaving the club if such a situation were to arise.

So what actually sparked the rumors to begin? – The answer to that question is a combination of a lot of things, namely Sir Alex Ferguson stating that Rooney wanted to leave the club (later denied by Rooney), David Moyes being appointed as the new manager of Manchester United, a bunch of top clubs in Europe being interested, his departure from the pre-season tour supposedly due to an injury, and the latest of all being David Moyes making a public statement about Rooney being needed by the team only if the first choice striker, RvP was to be injured or rested.

Initially a lot of big name clubs were interested in signing him, (PSG, Monaco, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea), but then Monaco signed Radamel Falcao, PSG signed Edison Cavani, and Real Madrid’s interest just seems to have faded. As of now, only Arsenal and Chelsea remain in the hunt, with the latter seeming most likely to be the club that he signs for (Arsenal not making any effort to sign him, whereas Rooney seems like the Chelsea’s only transfer target right now).

If this transfer does happen, what could a player like Wayne Rooney bring to a team like Chelsea? – Chelsea is a good team. They have a great defense, and a brilliant (slightly overpopulated) midfield. The only problem that the team does have is that they lack a player who is capable of leading the attack from up front.

The current strikers present at Chelsea are Romelu Lukaku, Demba Ba, and Fernando Torres. Out of those three strikers, only two (Ba and Torres) have experience when it comes to European competitions, having played in the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League. The problem with those two strikers is that they are highly inconsistent. Fernando Torres managed to score only 8 league goals after having made a total of 36 appearances in the league, whereas Demba Ba managed only 2 goals in 14 league appearances.

The other striker present on the Chelsea squad is Romelu Lukaku, the young Belgian striker, who is often called as the next Didier Drogba due to his physical features and style of play. Though Lukaku lacks the needed experience, he makes up for all that with the raw talent that he possess. He proved that by netting 17 goals in 35 league appearances for West Bromwich Albion when he was at loan there last season.

One could even say that he is the solution for Chelsea’s striking problems, but with one inexperienced striker, a team cannot really win too many trophies, at least not with competition from teams like the two clubs from Manchester, or teams like Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, etc. if European competitions are taken into consideration.

If Wayne Rooney does move to Chelsea, he could be the solution for their biggest and only problem. Rooney comes with a vast amount of experience, and a good goal-scoring record. He is a player deadly in front of goal, who has a knack for scoring big goals in big matches. He is a strong, skilled player who has the ability of making good passes, and scoring from distance. He also has a great work rate, helps out in defense when needed and is a player who plays in a manner that is extremely selfless. Another plus point is that he can play behind the striker or on either wing when needed.

All those things are the good things about Wayne, but like the ancient saying, ‘With the good, comes the bad’ or ‘There’s no sunshine without rain’, there is one bad thing here. Rooney’s form has been declining lately, and as of now, he isn’t really playing up to his potential. But all that said and done, we shouldn’t forget the famous saying, Form is temporary, Class is Permanent. He might just return to form end up being the perfect fit at Chelsea.

In my opinion, If this move does happen, Wayne Rooney’s firepower along with Jose Mourinho’s tactics will make Chelsea FC the favorites to win the league title in the upcoming season!