Wayne Rooney: Special but not a legend

Nobody polarises opinions quite as much as Wayne Rooney does

Wayne Rooney has signed a whopping 300,000 pound a week contract essentially ensuring that his most productive years will be at Manchester United. David Moyes has been credited for the turn-around after it seemed that Rooney would end up with the “Special One “at Stamford Bridge.

Rooney splits opinion among the United faithful unlike anyone else. Some still adore him, some resent him for his past actions. But no one will deny the fact that he is top quality and an important player for the club.

Wayne Rooney is one of those players, who as a fan, you instantly take a liking to. He gives everything on the field. He will put in the last ditch tackle and will be at the other end scoring in a matter of few seconds. And he was primed to be etched in the history books as one of United’s all time greats.

But it all changed in October 2010. It was a shock when Rooney said he wanted to leave the club. He hadn’t scored a goal since the champions league game against Bayern Munich and had a disastrous world cup. And the reasons for leaving had the united fans in a fit, the supposed lack of ambition. To make matters worse, there were rumours of him moving to the nouveau rich neighbours, Manchester city.

In the end he signed a lucrative 200000 pound a week deal and it can be said that it all boiled down to money. But the fans turned against him and he didn’t his best to repair the relationship by saying all the right things in his interaction with the media. When he made his return from injury against Wigan athletic at old Trafford, the reaction of the crowd was mixed but as each game wore on the supporters were back in full force chanting his name again. He made a telling contribution towards the end of the campaign and the season ended with United knocking Liverpool of the perch.

Rooney and van Persie have yet to show the potential that the partnership promised

But he fell out with Ferguson again. He lost his ‘prima donna’ status to Robin Van Persie. He was dropped to the bench against Real Madrid but it could be argued that it was more of a tactical decision from Fergie. Amidst the emotional scenes around Fergie’s farewell, the Rooney saga was heating up and in the post match interview he broke the news that Rooney had asked to leave .This was the second time and Rooney later on denied the fact he did. But the fact of the matter is there was genuine interest from Mourinho’s Chelsea and he did want to leave.

David Moyes went on a charm offensive and made the player feel important again and made sure he stayed on. He switched him back to his preferred role behind the striker. Rooney has been one of united better players this season. His return of 9 goals and 9 assists would make make any player proud especially given his injury troubles. But is it worth 300000 pound worth. To put things into perspective, Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero have arguably been the best players in the league this season and they get paid around 200000 pounds a week.

In the end, the club could not afford to lose Rooney and hence Rooney’s bargaining power was strengthened. It would have been bad publicity and could have been seen as a top player abandoning a sinking ship. After the record signing of Mata in January, this new deal gives a message that United are still a force to reckon with and has the financial muscle to compete with the best in Europe.

Rooney is still one of the top players in the modern game and he could have been the best if he had the determination and drive of a Cristiano Ronaldo. Rooney still has a few years left at the top and some would argue that he could yet hit his peak in the coming years. Rooney has to prove that he is worth this astronomical figure through his performances. He is a special player. But will he be loved and revered like a George Best or a Eric Cantona? Probably not.