Transfer Tavern - Do Manchester United need Rooney?

By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

The third edition of The Transfer Tavern will mainly focus on the third player who has been heavily linked with a move away from his current employers to a new club.  That individual is Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney.

The former Everton junior is going through another tricky period in a career that has seen many ups and plenty of downs along the way.  Rooney’s future is right up in the air, although with just 11 days to go now until the summer transfer window closes, he might well be remaining at Manchester United for the short-term at least.

Rooney (pictured) might still want to leave for pastures new, but another question that has to be asked is do Manchester United still need the troubled striker on their books?

My view is that they can dispense with Rooney and still be strong title contenders domestically, although a replacement will probably be required if a European challenge is to be maintained in the forthcoming season.

Since the arrival of Robin van Persie from Arsenal last summer, the England man has effectively played second fiddle to the goalscoring Dutchman.  With four goals already in his first two competitive matches of the new season, it doesn’t look like Van Persie’s goals will be drying up anytime soon for the Red Devils.

Rooney wants to step out of the shadows and become the main man.  To do that, he really needs a new challenge and that means to bid farewell to Manchester United.  He accepted playing a backup role to Cristiano Ronaldo when the Portuguese star was at the peak of his powers in the Premier League, but that is something I believe Rooney doesn’t want to do again, especially to a player who is approaching the age of 30.

It is now over a decade since he burst onto the scene with that dipping strike past David Seaman to spearhead a shock victory for his boyhood club Everton in 2002 over Arsenal, an Everton side managed by new Man United incumbent David Moyes.

Moyes did brilliantly to cope with Rooney’s early development, acknowledging he was a star, but not playing him week in, week out and risking burnout at such a young age.  This is something Liverpool didn’t do with Michael Owen and once he torn his hamstring for the first time in his career away at Leeds United in April 1999, the sheer pace Owen had as a tool in his game was never quite the same.

It was Moyes who sat with Rooney four months after his first major contribution in football when he signed his first professional contract at Goodison, then on a measly £15,000 a week.  His wages now don’t even need describing, and as shown by his sudden decision to want to leave the Red Devils in 2010, followed by a massive pay packet in a new contract, money is a big thought in Rooney’s mind, no matter how much he will try to deny it.

United have decent backup too.  Danny Welbeck showed with two cool and composed finishes last weekend at Swansea that he is ready to start producing the goods that are expected of him.  Welbeck only scored one Premier League goal last term, and seemed to lack confidence infront of goal for his club.  He has already beaten his tally from the last campaign, and seems like a perfect foil for the hungry Van Persie.

Although currently injured with hamstring problems, Javier Hernandez has a knack of finding the target, as he demonstrated again this summer for Mexico in the Confederations Cup.  Hernandez is well-liked by the fans, is a hard worker and will always net at least double figures in any season. 

If you add at least 20 league goals from those two to add to RVP’s likely total of 20 goals plus, and likely contributions from the likes of Shinji Kagawa and Wilfred Zaha, United aren’t shy of goal power in their ranks.  That’s not even counting the troubled Nani, injury-prone winger Ashley Young and young prodigy Federico Macheda, who might get more of a look in under Moyes that he struggled to achieve in Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign.

If the price is right to let Rooney go, I don’t think United will stand in the way of the player.  However they don’t want to see him go to one of their big title rivals and that is Chelsea.  The Blues have already had two bids for Rooney rejected this summer, and Jose Mourinho has already hinted at a third bid is being prepared for the attacker once the sides clash against one another on Bank Holiday Monday.

A move to Chelsea could be good for Rooney.  He would become the main man at Stamford Bridge, would link up with close friends Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole from the England camp, and is likely to get a host of opportunities when you think of the Europa League’s holders’ creative ability from the flanks and the middle of the park.

If Rooney joins Chelsea, then it will surely pave the way for one of their three strikers to leave.  Fernando Torres will probably stay, despite not being in the 18-man squad for Wednesday’s 2-1 Premier League victory over a battling Aston Villa outfit.  Demba Ba might be the man to go, with AS Roma and his former club West Ham United known to be interested in the Senegalese’s availability.  Romelu Lukaku might be shipped out on loan again, though both club and player prefer a stay at Stamford Bridge this season.

In summary, the decision is upto Rooney, and this is one transfer that might go all the way to deadline day before the outcome is settled.  Professionally, he needs a new challenge in his career, but you can understand why the hierarchy at Manchester United really don’t want to sell one of their assets to Chelsea.

Elsewhere and while Luis Suarez now looks set to stay at Liverpool, Gareth Bale’s protracted transfer to Real Madrid edges closer.  Real Madrid and Tottenham are believed to be in advanced talks, and the club shop at the Bernabeu are now selling Bale shirts, as they prepare to welcome their new man.  If the deal goes through, it will become the most expensive transfer in the history of football.  A reported £93m is the fee, with Fabio Coentrao going in the other direction.

Tottenham continue to spend the likely money they will get from the Bale transaction.  Another £30m is heading to Anzhi for the Brazilian midfielder Willian.  He has passed a medical, and is nearing a move with talks between Spurs and the player’s representatives ongoing.

Tottenham have moved on Tom Huddlestone to Hull City, where he has been joined by Jake Livermore.  Huddlestone has gone on a permanent basis, while Livermore has been loaned out to the Tigers to get crucial match time in order to aid his development.

Scott Parker is another departure this week, and he turned down higher wages at QPR for the chance to continue playing Premier League football at Fulham.  Martin Jol has done well to bring him in, along with Darren Bent on a season-long loan from Aston Villa, giving the Cottagers some much needed experience at this level.  The move to west London gives Parker the opportunity to still potentially figure in Roy Hodgson’s England plans – something that would have disappeared if he had opted to join Harry Redknapp in the Championship.

Southampton might have Rickie Lambert, but they smashed their club transfer record to acquire the services of Pablo Osvaldo for £15m.  The Italian striker comes from AS Roma, and has worked under Mauricio Pochettino before when the Argentine was in charge of Espanyol.  It seems like a gamble, but the Saints have done well in this transfer window.

Another playing moving to the Premier League but making a return to England is Johan Elmander.  The former Bolton Wanderers player has left Galatasaray to spend the campaign on loan at Norwich City, and Jason Puncheon has made a similar loan switch from Southampton to newly promoted Crystal Palace.  This move is more down to a preference of Puncheon, who wanted to leave the south coast and be closer to his family, who are based in London.

With just over 10 days to go, expect plenty more transfer activity and the start of some panic buying as clubs strengthen ahead of the deadline.  Coming up in the next edition of The Transfer Tavern is a look at who is to blame for the disastrous summer of non-recruitment at Arsenal Football Club.