Why a Wayne Rooney Transfer to Arsenal Might Just Happen

For many Arsenal fans, the sight of Wayne Rooney in an Arsenal shirt would be approaching heretical.

Rooney has been the bane of Arsenal for more than a decade. Looking back, there was a certain poignancy about the fact that his spectacular debut goal for Everton came against the Gunners. In the 11 seasons since that revelatory moment, Rooney has bagged 12 goals in just 26 games against the North London side.

Many of those goals have been particularly painful for Gunners fans. After that last-minute winner as a 16 year-old in 2003, he both scored and won a controversial penalty in the 2004 tie that ended Arsenal’s unbeaten streak at 49. He also struck a hat-trick in the agonizing 8-2 defeat of August 2011.

Rooney is Arsenal’s "Boogie Man." With the Daily Mail reporting that Arsene Wenger is considering launching a £25 million bid for the English striker, perhaps the Gunners have decided: If you can’t beat them, sign them.

It seems certain that Wayne Rooney’s time at Old Trafford is approaching an end. Ironically, his potential departure from Manchester United was precipitated by the arrival of one-time Arsenal hit man Robin van Persie.

Van Persie has displaced Rooney as United’s figurehead and centre-forward. Rooney has spent the season being shunted around the pitch to accommodate Van Persie and ultimately suffered the humiliation of being dropped for the biggest game of United’s season: the home tie with Real Madrid.

Rooney’s subsequent transfer request led to him being left out of Sir Alex Ferguson’s final two games in charge. Incoming manager David Moyes will not hold out much hope of a peace treaty given the pair’s storied history. For Rooney and United, the writing is on the wall.

That’s where Arsenal come in.

The Gunners are in need of a new striker. Since losing Van Persie, they have missed a penalty-box poacher. Olivier Giroud has impressed with his hold-up play and aerial ability, but he is unlikely to ever trouble the upper echelons of the scoring charts.

At his explosive best, there are few better than Rooney. The Englishman has scored 197 goals in 402 club appearances. That’s close to every major striker’s aim of a goal every two games.

The big question is whether Rooney’s best is behind him. His recent performances have been slack and sluggish. His once impeccable first touch has deserted him, and the acceleration that made him such a nightmare for defenders has disappeared.

Signing Rooney would require an enormous investment of both fee and salary. If Arsenal are to transform their financial policy for the sake of one player, they need to be sure he can still perform at the top level.

Arsene Wenger and Arsenal must decide if Rooney’s performances are a consequence of disillusionment with United or the inexorable march of time.

There’s no doubt Wenger has admired Rooney in the past. After his initial emergence as a teenager, the French manager said to the BBC:

"Rooney is the biggest England talent I've seen since I arrived in England. There has certainly not been a player under 20 as good as him since I became a manager here."

However, that was 11 years ago. It’s fair to say Rooney has never quite fulfilled the enormous potential he possessed back then.

If anyone can light a fire under Rooney and motivate him again, it’s Arsene Wenger. He worked the same trick with the likes of Marc Overmars and Thierry Henry. Both players’ careers appeared to be petering out before Wenger intervened and transformed their fortunes.

If Arsene Wenger can get Rooney fit and firing again, he could instantly transform the threat offered by this Arsenal side.

For many Arsenal fans, the idea of bringing Rooney to the Emirates is complete anathema. He is reviled.

However, he is also respected.

If his frustration with all things Manchester United can be transfigured into a burning desire to wreak revenge on the denizens of Old Trafford, he could yet be a powerful weapon in Arsenal’s armoury.