Rooney keen to remain with United as place in Europa League final beckons
MAN UTD (1)
V CELTA VIGO (0)
Wayne Rooney wants to stay at Manchester United, even if the lack of game-time is grating on the club’s all-time top scorer.
For so long a key player for club and country, this season the 31-year-old has found himself in the unusual position of scrapping for a starting role.
Rooney has made just 22 United starts across the competitions and continuing questions over his viability at the top level have fuelled talk that his future lies away from Old Trafford.
The skipper committed his immediate future to United in February amid interest from China, saying he wanted to remain at the club during this “exciting time” – a period that could soon bring Europa League glory.
Rooney spoke of his desire to win the competition on the eve of the semi-final second leg against Celta Vigo which United approach with a 1-0 first-leg advantage, although his future rather than the tie formed the main line of questioning in the press conference.
“Of course you want to play, you want to play every game,” he said. “Sometimes that’s football. I’ve had to keep working and try to take my chances when I get the opportunity. That’s what I’ve done and when called upon I’ll try my best to help the team.”
Asked if he thinks this could be his final chance to reach a big final with United, Rooney said: “My focus is on trying to help us win this final and that’s my sole focus. I think it’s a massive opportunity for us as a group of players to win a European title and my focus is to help us try and win this one.”
Rooney continues to be linked with a big-money move to China, where his agent Paul Stretford spent time earlier in the year speaking to interested clubs.
Everton and the United States are other potential destinations, but Rooney is keen to stay at Old Trafford, even if he had to be pushed on a subject the forward seemed keen to skirt around.
“Would I like to stay? I’ve been at this club 13 years,” he said. “Of course I want to play football. Of course [I want to do it here].” Alexis Sanchez hit his 20th Premier League goal of the season as Arsenal saw off Southampton to keep their Premier League top-four hopes alive.
The Gunners secured a vital 2-0 win in this game in hand to leapfrog Manchester United into fifth and now sit three points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City.
Sanchez struck the opener on the hour mark at St Mary’s, picking up a pass inside the box from Mesut Ozil and then leaving both Maya Yoshida and Jack Stephens on the ground as he cut back inside and finished well. Olivier Giroud then came off the bench to make sure of the points with a close-range header.
Under-fire Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has constantly reiterated his side cannot put a foot wrong in their remaining games, and they were solid enough to take home victory from the south coast to keep them in the hunt for Champions League qualification.
Arsenal went into this match needing a win but also having to address woeful away form that had seen them take two points from a possible 24 on the road against current top-half teams. They were not at their best here but in truth they did not need to be – this was nothing like the 4-0 thrashing they dished out in the corresponding fixture last term.
Southampton appear to be coasting to the season’s end, with reported pressure on manager Claude Puel likely to ramp up after another lacklustre display.
Saints had their moments but looked short of ideas in attack, where out-of-sorts forward Manolo Gabbiadini again drew a blank.