What does Wayne Rooney want from United?

If the news of Sir Alex Ferguson retiring from football management wasn’t enough of a shocker for Manchester United fans, what added to the misery was Wayne Rooney’s immediate transfer request. While some of the United supporters are mourning over a possible departure of their star striker, some United fans no longer care about the striker who requested for a transfer two years back as well. What happens to Wayne Rooney’s Manchester United career remains to be seen.

Just after England’s match against Brazil on June 2, in which Rooney scored a brilliant goal from outside of the box, Arsene Wenger publically declared his interest in Rooney, stating that “No one can turn down Rooney”. Speculation continued, and reports started stating that, allegedly, Wayne Rooney won’t mind joining Arsenal either. Yes, this was another shocker for a United fan.

When Rooney first requested a transfer in the 2010-11 season, his reason for the request was “club’s lack of ambition”. He wasn’t sure whether Manchester United was the club that could match with his ambitions, of course he changed his mind when he was offered a contract which he couldn’t refuse. Rooney decided to stay, signed a contract that would make him and his family very happy financially, and the United fans were filled with joy and relief.

After two years, Rooney and United stand at the same point. Although Rooney hasn’t put blame on United’s ambitions, his intentions to leave are very much clear. Sources say that it is because of the appointment of David Moyes as the new United manager (for people that are new to football, Wayne Rooney played under David Moyes during his spell in Everton). Nobody can be sure whether this is the true reason or not.

What really has caught the eye of many is the fact that Rooney wouldn’t mind moving to Arsenal, when the reason for his request the first time was United’s low ambitions. Arsenal and ambitions don’t generally go hand in hand. Arsenal have been trophyless since the Invincibles. So Rooney doesn’t want trophies or what?

One idea can be, that as Robin Van Persie has been the protagonist in United’s 2012-13 season, Rooney may have felt unimportant and neglected. Maybe he wants to be the protagonist again. And if he can’t be indispensable for United, he may be happy to move somewhere else. And what better team than Arsenal to do that? What Van Persie did for United, Rooney wants to do for a team that isn’t winning, but has the potential to win if he arrives. He wants to win things for a team that won’t win things without him. United can win without Rooney. Arsenal aren’t winning without Rooney. Who knows, maybe he can win things for them.

Everybody wants to feel special, and Rooney may be going through that phase.

This idea is further strengthened by the fact that Rooney has declared that he wants striker role if he is to stay at United. He wants to lead the team lineup, not play behind the striker. He wants to score goals and be on the scoresheet, not engineer the goal build up. He wants to contribute something that is visible not only on the television screen, but also on the newspaper. If United can’t promise him that role, they may as well prepare for life without him.

As for me, I’ve been a United supporter since I was a kid. I have seen David Beckham play, Cristiano Ronaldo play, Ruud Van Nistelrooy play, Roy Keane play – and I have seen them all leave. Truth is that United were always capable of coping up with departure of star players when Sir Alex was in-charge. Can United afford to lose its star striker when it is going through its most crucial phase? No one knows that yet. All we know is that Rooney is a world class striker who can definitely do a lot for United, but isn’t someone whose departure would stop United from performing.