Manchester United Transfer Rumours: Wayne Rooney Leaving Old Trafford?

The front page of Saturday's Independent has revealed that Alex Ferguson could be ready to let Wayne Rooney leave Old Trafford. To view the full front page click here.

The Independent isn't the first paper this week to mention a possible Rooney departure. The Mirror has also mentioned that Ferguson could cash-in on Rooney in order to "rebuild the squad."

Rooney has found himself in Ferguson's bad books lately, after defying him by going out for a meal with Darron Gibson, Jonny Evans and their WAGs on Boxing Day night. As a result, Rooney was dropped from the squad for the Blackburn game and fined a week's wages.

Rooney was of course at the centre of transfer speculation last October, when contract talks with United broke down and he threatened to leave the club. This was partially due to disagreements with SAF—could there be similar problems afoot now?

Ferguson has shown in the past that he is not afraid to dump unruly players, after he sensationally sold David Beckham to Real Madrid back in 2003.

So, is Sir Alex Ferguson really contemplating selling one of his biggest assets, or is it all just paper talk?

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United and Rooney's Response to Rumour