London – Wayne Rooney’s future will be decided this week as he finally sits down with new Manchester United manager David Moyes to discuss whether his nine-year stay at the club is over.
Rooney’s situation will dominate Moyes’s first week of work – he officially starts at Old Trafford on Monday – with Arsenal ready to make a £20million bid for the striker and Chelsea also interested.
Rooney is said to be approaching the talks positively and is keen to start afresh with the new manager after his relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson soured last season, culminating in the former manager saying Rooney had asked to leave the club.
Rooney’s camp have denied this and the player himself is keen for the club to make it public that he never submitted an official transfer request, something Rooney feels could ruin his relationship with fans.
But Moyes will want to ensure that, if the player does not buy into his plans, they can come up with an exit strategy that avoids the acrimony that marred the end of their relationship at Goodison Park. Moyes sued Rooney for damages following allegations made in the player’s autobiography after he was sold to United in 2004.
Nemanja Vidic, Nani and Monaco target Patrice Evra are all set to leave United this summer as Moyes shows he will be his own man after 26 years of Ferguson’s rule at Old Trafford, but Rooney’s potential departure would be the most complicated to sort out.
He has two years left on a £200,000-a-week contract and United will make it clear that any new offer from them would be on reduced terms. He would prefer a move to Chelsea, but that is something United would be reluctant to sanction given they are likely to be title rivals next season.
French champions Paris Saint- Germain would meet United’s £30m asking price, but Rooney is reluctant to move there with his young family. Arsenal may provide a compromise, provided Rooney does not see it as a step down.
United are also proceeding with plans to sign Ezequiel Garay, 26, who should be the first through the door this week, Thiago Alcantara, Kevin Strootman and Leighton Baines at a total cost of £70m. But their intention to launch the Moyes era with a couple of high-profile signings may be delayed.
Benfica want more than £20m for centre-back Garay, with his former club, Real Madrid, entitled to a 50 per cent sell-on fee. Barcelona midfielder Thiago, 22, has attracted late interest from Bayern Munich and a counter offer from Barca, having agreed personal terms with United of £100,000 a week.
United will have to raise an initial £12m offer for Everton and England left-back Baines, while PSV and Holland Under-21 midfielder Strootman, 23, is not due to return from holiday for another week.
It promises to be a hectic baptism for Moyes, who has been shown support by United agreeing compensation with Everton to take in his trusted backroom team of Steve Round, Jimmy Lumsden and Chris Woods to Old Trafford. There may also be a role for former United and Everton favourite Phil Neville, who wants to start a career in coaching.
United’s title-winning players will be taken through rigorous testing – a week before Manchester City’s England players are due back at their club – and they can expect a change in culture at their Carrington training ground under Moyes.
Though Ferguson attended every training session, he was happy to leave a lot of the details to Rene Meulensteen in his latter years, while Moyes will be more hands-on.
Alan Irvine, his long-time No 2 at Everton now in charge of the club’s academy, believes the United players will find Moyes’s attention to detail unsurpassed.
“David is extremely hard working and thorough. He leaves nothing to chance. He is always concerned about the fine details and will think things through carefully before he makes decisions,” said Irvine.
“Training will be well prepared and he will continually question what he is doing and try to find the best way of working with a new group of players.
“He will spend a lot of time listening and speaking to people. Whatever the result of a match, he will look for ways for himself and the team to improve.
“If he is not over-happy with something, he will ask the players to work it out on the training pitch. Despite the perception, he will do as much work on the attacking side as the defending.” – Mail on Sunday