According to reports from Mirror Football, Manchester United are preparing to ‘jettison’ Wayne Rooney at the end of the season.
What’s the word?
We’ve seen this report coming. The footballing world has been nothing short of obsessed with ‘Wazza Roo’ in recent weeks, with a bout of poor form losing him a place in both the Manchester United and England starting line-ups – which many see as an indicator of the captain’s careers with the Red Devils and the Three Lions coming to an abrupt end.
Mirror Football claim United are preparing to oust Rooney at the end of the season but the club face paying off the remainder of his contract, which is due to expire in 2019. That could amount to a rather incredible cost of £26million.
Where could Rooney end up?
A good question. United won’t want to sell to a direct Premier League rival and the fact of the matter is that, based on current form at least, few would be interested in taking the soon-to-be 31-year-old on. Likewise, those slightly below the Red Devils in the English top flight hierarchy, such as former club Everton, will struggle to afford his wages – currently amongst the highest in the Premier League.
With that in mind, Mirror Football moot the Chinese Super League or MLS as his likeliest next destinations. Whilst the Chinese Super League’s appeal is sourced from their devotion to paying high-profile footballers astronomical wages, a move to America would obviously be a much smoother transition for the England skipper and his family.
Has Rooney actually been that bad?
The idea Rooney’s been completely stinking up the place, by FootballFanCast’s reckoning at least, is a bit of a myth. As you can see below, courtesy of Squawka, his contribution in the Premier League has been on par with United’s other advanced midfield options this season.
But there’s no doubt the United ace is by no means the player he once was and if we extrapolate his decline further, he’ll be practically useless to the Red Devils by the time his contract expires in two-and-a-half years. The biggest concern for United, at least from a financial perspective, is that Rooney no longer justifies being one of the Premier League’s top earners.
