ROONEY COULD STAY AT UNITED
WAYNE ROONEY is giving serious consideration to seeing out the rest of his contract at Manchester United, which Sportsmail can reveal has just one year to run with the option of a further year. While Rooney will not make a final decision on his future until he returns from a family holiday it is understood the choice to stay at Old Trafford is becoming increasingly attractive. A return to Everton is looking unlikely, not least because it appears Rooney’s former club will not come close to matching his £250,000-a-week wage at Old Trafford. Talk of offers from China is also thought to lack serious substance, despite the mega-money which seems to be available for players to switch to their league. Moving to China with a young family is said to be something Rooney does not exactly relish and his wife, Coleen, is understood to be even more reluctant. While
that option of a second year might not be something Jose Mourinho wishes to take if Rooney makes even fewer starts next season, the United boss does see value in having a player of Rooney’s experience and maturity in a young dressing room. One United insider yesterday described Rooney as ‘stuck’ at Old Trafford because, while he wants to play more regularly, his options elsewhere appear limited. Meanwhile Old Trafford bosses are unlikely to offer Zlatan Ibrahimovic a new contract when his current deal expires later this summer. The Swede, who is 35, suffered a cruciate ligament injury just before the end of the season and is expected to be sidelined until 2018. United officials have ruled out extending his current deal, as he is likely to spend a large portion of the next campaign unable to play, though United do want the expected parting to be amicable. Ibrahimovic, who signed on a free transfer following the end of his deal with Paris Saint-Germain, scored 28 goals before injury struck. His wages — a staggering basic of £367,640 a week — also make an extension unlikely. United remain keen on Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata but any move for the 24-year-old could be complicated by the David de Gea situation. United are reluctant to lose their goalkeeper and are wary of Madrid insisting the Spaniard become part of the deal for Morata. So United may yet resurrect their interest in Atletico Madrid’s French striker Antoine Griezmann.