ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: WAYNE ROONEY is increasingly open to the idea of completing the most rancorous and staggering transfer of modern times by leaving Manchester United for Manchester City.
He has informed United he has no intention of signing a new contract and is ready to contemplate following Carlos Tevez’s path across Manchester and the potential minefield and recriminations of swapping one club for the other.
Carlos Ancelotti, the Chelsea manager, confirmed yesterday that he would be interested in Rooney if he could establish any sense on the player’s part that he would be willing to move to Stamford Bridge.
But the reigning footballer of the year is leaning more towards City, acutely aware of the potential riches of joining the wealthiest club in England.
Although a perception has built that he wants to move to Spain, he has told team-mates that City, not Real Madrid or Barcelona, is the more realistic destination. Rooney has come to dislike aspects of life in England, specifically the media intrusion, and is open-minded about moving abroad, but there are other issues.
His wife, Colleen, is reluctant to be apart from her 12-year-old sister, Rosie, who suffers from the brain disorder Rett syndrome and whose condition worsened in the week after newspaper allegations appeared of Rooney having a relationship with a prostitute.
City, in turn, have decided they should do everything they can to take advantage of the player’s breakdown in relations with Alex Ferguson. Brian Marwood, City’s football administrator, has a long-standing relationship with Rooney’s adviser, Paul Stretford, and close ties with the player, having previously worked in a senior position at Nike, one of Rooney’s sponsors.
City are under pressure to reduce their wage bill to meet Uefa’s financial fair-play requirements but they are relaxed about the issue and believe there are ways around it. If, for example, they were to lure Rooney away from Old Trafford on a salary of €285,000 a week they could
recoup around two-thirds of that by selling, to name but two, Roque Santa Cruz and Craig Bellamy.
“We hadn’t discussed signing Rooney until the last week because we never thought he would be available, just like we have never discussed signing Lionel Messi from Barcelona,” one senior figure at Eastlands said. “Now we know he wants to leave United we’re obviously going to monitor it closely.”
Rooney is on record in April saying that he had no interest in joining City and he knows he would face the same allegations that have been directed towards Tevez, namely of treacherous disloyalty and greed.
United’s supporters would also argue that moving to City is a step down but an alternative argument has been presented to Rooney comparing the huge wealth and ambition at Eastlands at a time when his current club are no longer in the market for established category-A players because of the financial issues that accompany their ownership under the Glazers.
David Gill, United’s chief executive, has been caught out badly by Rooney’s decision and was trying to get hold of the player’s representatives yesterday to ascertain whether there was anything that could be done to resolve the situation.
For now, the message is firmly that Rooney’s mind is made up – in part because of the monetary issues but mostly because of his grievances about the way he perceives Ferguson has treated him.
Gill and Ferguson appeared at a Unicef press conference at Old Trafford yesterday but made it clear they would not talk about Rooney.
Gill said: “We will say something at a more appropriate time, and this is not an appropriate time.”
That may take the form of an official statement before Ferguson, under Uefa guidelines, holds a press conference today to preview the Champions League tie against Bursaspor tomorrow. Rooney has 20 months left on his contract and the dilemma for United, if he cannot resolve his differences, is that his transfer valuation is depreciating. In other words, they would get a higher fee selling in January rather than the end of the season.
Real Madrid’s president, Florentino Perez, has been quietly talking up their interest during a series of off-the-record briefings over the past few weeks, but at a press conference yesterday Jose Mourinho said: “I don’t think he will leave.
"I think Ferguson will persuade him to stay." Guardian Service
LOOK AFTER NUMBER ONE KEANE ADVISES ROONEY TO PUT OWN INTERESTS FIRST
FORMER Manchester United captain Roy Keane has advised Wayne Rooney to make sure he puts his own interests first.
Ipswich manager Keane, who ended a 12-year stint with United in 2005 after a spat with Ferguson, said: “Players and managers fall out all the time. It’s part of life.
“If I was to offer advice to Wayne, who is a good lad, I would tell him to make sure he looks after number one.
“Players are pieces of meat – that’s how I look at it. When your time’s up, your time’s up. “Luckily for Wayne he’s at a good age and he’s fit.”
Along with Keane, David Beckham and Jaap Stam are other players (see panel) who have left Old Trafford after falling foul of Ferguson, but the 39-year-old Ipswich Town manager does not believe that result is inevitable with Rooney.
“It depends on the situation and whether you have been lied to or not,” he said.
“But, as usual, we are second guessing what has gone on at the club, which is dangerous.”
