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Why Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson Shouldn’t and Won’t Sell Rooney

The past week has seen Wayne Rooney come under a lot of stick and led to many believing that he should be sold by Man United. Much of the stick has come under the claim that he isn’t “world class” and never will be.

Rooney shouldn’t leave United and he is wrongly being a labelled a scapegoat for their problems. The real problem at United is not Rooney. The past couple of years has seen Rooney switching from a number 9 type striker to a now number 10 creative player. Rooney has had an unlucky season with a couple of injuries ruling him out but when that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been effective. In 20 premier league appearances Rooney has scored 11 goals and made 9 assists. Robin Van Persie has scored 8 more goals with 8 more appearances and made 1 less assist. All this shows is that Van Persie has had more game time and is a natural number 9 striker. When you compare Rooney’s stats to other creative players he’s leading the assists chart and scored more goals than other similar players such as Juan Mata, David Silva  and Eden Hazard. All three of those players play in a similar position behind the striker which is a role that Rooney now occupies. Statistically then Rooney is a better player, yet those clubs’ fans seem more desperate to hold onto their number 10 type players.

The problem at United is not Rooney. The problem for United is that they haven’t got players on the wings who are adequate enough for United. This season United have relied on Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia and Nani for wingers that are supposed to provide assists for strikers and score goals in a similar way that we see Gareth Bale, Ronaldo and Arjen Robben do for their respective teams. Ashley Young has scored no goals and contributed 3 assists, Valencia has scored no goals and contributed with 4 assists and Nani has scored 1 goal while contributed with 2 assists.  Those 3 players combined who are supposed to be “wingers” have contributed with less goals and assists then Wayne Rooney. Yet we don’t see many people calling for them to go.

United can only push forward and compete for a full complement of trophies next season if they have at least one world class winger to add to a squad that looks almost world class in the rest of the positions, with the exception of Evra(don’t get me started there). Some might think it’s OK because Zaha will be a United player next season and he’s the next Ronaldo but he’s 20, has no premier league experience and won’t become world class in a day. This summer United need to sell at least one of their wingers and replace him with a winger actually worthy of winning trophies for united that he will contribute to.

The obvious suggestions would be Ronaldo and Bale and it wouldn’t be far-fetched to suggest that they could be United players next season. Gareth Bale is valued at about 50 million and currently on average wages for a player of his ability. If United were to sell either Nani or Young(preferably both) they would be able to afford Gareth Bale easily as contrary to opinions, they are not a club that needs to worry about debts or FFP with a commercial income like theirs. Gareth Bale would definitely expand united as is shown by his 16 goals in the premier league so far.  Ronaldo is a no brainer; he would improve United by a country mile and is worth the sacrifice of an average winger like Nani, Young or Valencia. However money may be an issue considering he’s the most expensive player in the world and one of the highest earners in football. Ronaldo has said though that he is unhappy and is yet to sign a new contract that will run out in a couple of years so a forced move from Madrid could be likely and he would be welcomed back with open arms.

If a change like this were to be made United would stroll towards another treble and Rooney would be one of the reasons behind it, not a hindrance.

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