What was the real story behind the Rooney saga?
Now that all the controversy has died down, the story for ‘a want of saying’ will be lining our bins and fish and chips. It is like it never happened and has been almost forgotten in an instant; in fact, it disappeared as quickly as it arose.
The news that Rooney had decided to leave Manchester United came as a bombshell to everyone surrounding the club; manager, owners, fans and even the press were dumbfounded at this revelation.
However, it now seems that everyone involved at the club will get what they desired. Rooney will get his wage increase, Ferguson well keep his star player, and the fans will rejoice in the promise that the club can compete with the likes City and Chelsea when it comes to the transfer market. Even the board will have benefited by improving their relationship with the fans, even if it is very slightly.
But why the whole whirlwind surrounding the saga? What was the real reason for Rooney to cause all this controversy, and was it Rooney himself who manufactured the whole scenario? Honestly, Rooney doesn’t have the mastermind skill behind such a move. No, this has Ferguson written all over it; from his emotional pre-match interview when he told the world that Rooney was leaving the club, to leaking the story to the worlds press himself.
First of all, why would Rooney want to leave the club? It has become clear that it had nothing to do with his relationship with Alex Ferguson – which is what we are made to believe - but instead the lack of ambition that translated from speaking with the American owners when asked about their plans for the future of the club.
We all know that there simply aren’t the funds available for Ferguson to flex his financial muscles in the transfer market, and with the current owners staying at the helm they could follow in the demise of their closest rivals, Liverpool.
Gillett and Hicks were eventually court ordered to sell Liverpool to New England Sports Ventures after the clubs debts spiralled out of control and repayments were becoming too large for them to handle.
At Manchester United the executive director David Gill has for too long stated that the club is in great hands and there is plenty of cash available for big transfers. Yet no major world class players have arrived at Old Trafford over the past couple of seasons and following the Panorama program about the club, which emphasised the considerable amount of debt the Glazers are in, there are no coincidences in terms of no world class players arriving at the club in recent years.
From the outside looking in it is evident that the club is financially struggling, but reassurances have kept on coming from the director with the manager keeping a lid on the fans emotions that are totally boiling over.
However, now that United’s star asset has come public in saying that the club lacks ambition and there aren’t funds available financially challenge Chelsea and Manchester City, concerns among the fans for the future of the club will hit the roof. Will Manchester United - in the hands of the Americans – go the same way as their counterparts across the M5?
Ferguson needs to step in…
Rooney can’t hold a club of this stature to ransom by himself, especially with his current form and personal implications that surround him. What value, if any, does he hold for the club; other than a sizable transfer fee which is decreasing day by day…
Cue Ferguson: “I’ll get Rooney to sign on the dotted line by making him believe that the owners will buy in the transfer market, I will also get the owners to quash our current wage policy by offering Rooney a ridiculous salary,
“Then I will sell Rooney in the summer and put pressure on the Glazers for breaking their promise to the fans and get the Red Knights to buy them out and then I can rebuild my team, because once I fall out with a player they are out of the window one way or another, I’ll get everything I want.”
Contract extended Rooney is on board for life. The owners are now going to spend large amounts of money in the transfer market, maybe not in January, but definitely in the summer. Yes, the debt ridden club that was once the richest in the world of football will once again be investing in multi-million pound deals over the summer. But with the funds coming from where?
The sale of Rooney in the summer transfer market, of course. The £80+ million that his transfer fee commands is exactly what happened with Ronaldo, if you recall. So Ferguson gets the Americans out, Rooney is sold for an astronomical fee, the Red Knights take over and he gets to rebuild his beloved team.
Or you can don your rose-tinted glasses and believe the hype in the papers which would have you believe that everything at Old Trafford is perfect!
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