DOES ANYONE WANT ROONEY?
Mid-June, no offers… striker is in no-man’s land, writes Ian Herbert
IT WAS a year ago today we awaited the last great reinvention of Wayne Rooney – the new holding midfielder against Russia on whose mood, touch and form England’s 2016 European Championship campaign depended.
He would be the axis around which the “young bucks” and “gazelles” of England would operate, the manager Roy Hodgson declared at the time, oozing admiration for a pre-tournament pep talk the player had given.
The crash which followed for Rooney has been steeper and more spectacular than that of any Englishman of his ilk.
It left him this weekend marooned on a beach on the Aegean island of Mykonos with his wife, Coleen – deposed as England captain by Tottenham’s Harry Kane, estranged from the national side and stranded in a no-man’s land as the player no club side wants to buy.
He was a peripheral figure last season, but still started 25 games and came on as substitute in a further 14. As club captain, he was also part of two successful cup campaigns.
Yet, staying at Manchester United presumes squad selection.
What if Jose Mourinho makes it difficult, as he did for Bastian Schweinsteiger?
Both the Premier League and Champions League operate a squad system. To be available, Rooney must first be included in the squad when the season starts.
Last year, Mourinho only named two strikers in his group of 25 – Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial available through the under-21 route.
Though it has been anticipated for some time that mid-June would be the moment when an announcement might come about his future, there have been no concrete offers for the 31-year-old.
The prospect grows of Rooney watching from the sidelines during the last year of his £300 000-a-week contract, as Jose Mourinho’s new signings set about the job he had thought would be his.
Mourinho is launching a charm offensive for Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, just as he did for Rooney when trying to bring him to Chelsea four years ago.
That would condemn Rooney to a place down the Old Trafford pecking order.
Mourinho is only willing to play him as a striker or No 10.
The Mail understands that Mourinho has sent text messages to Morata and placed at least one telephone call with him, seeking to persuade him that he should join United as they return to the Champions League.
As well as an opening £52 million offer, United have tabled comfortably the best package for the player, who has also been pursued by Chelsea, AC Milan and Juventus.
They are thought to have offered the 24-year-old Spain international more than the European champions are currently paying him, with commercial add-ons which neither Italian side can match.
Chelsea do not seem prepared to shatter their salary structure to buy him.
Morata, who played in Spain’s 4-0 win over Macedonia on Monday, wants to feel a more important part of a set-up after years of playing second fiddle at Real and Juventus, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema the superstars at the Bernabeu.
Mourinho’s pursuit of the player, after the collapse of efforts to bring top target Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid to Old Trafford, confirms what Rooney has known for months: that his United days are over.
He aspires to remain a Premier League player, though only Everton offer real attraction and the pay cut involved there will be monumental.
It is difficult to see Everton even stretching to £100 000 a week, given that Romelu Lukaku has been their previous highest earner on £70 000.
A move to Goodison Park might have been eased by the Belgian joining United, with Rooney being offered in part exchange, but Lukaku seems determined to return to Chelsea.
China is an option, yet the intense speculation which surfaced about such a move in February was quickly countered by those close to him, who insisted he wanted to fight for the United place which had slipped from his grasp.
Money aside, however, Rooney and China fundamentally do not fit. Factors which will not suit him include the lack of spoken English and the relatively primitive medical set-ups.
Word has percolated down from a number of players who have travelled from the West to play in the Chinese Super League – including Carlos Tevez – that the humidity is unbearable.
The US would offer more appeal and MLS would welcome Rooney with open arms, having lost both Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
But one franchise owner revealed that the league, with its long-haul away games and range of climates, might “not be easy” for Rooney.
The prospects of another Premier League side seeking to tempt him are not extinguished, however – not least because Rooney still displays evidence that he is worth a bid.
His goal-per-game ratio for United in the Premier League last season was second only to Ibrahimovich’s, albeit he managed only five from 15 starts.
Before the Russia match which was that new beginning, a Russian journalist told Rooney there was “a popular opinion in the Russian team that Wayne Rooney is not at the same as he was several years ago”. He replied with dignity. “Everyone who watches football is entitled to his opinion,” he said. “I know the qualities I have and I don’t have to sit here and defend myself.”
He just did not foresee the 12 months of hell which lay ahead. – Daily Mail