Manchester United Need to Take Wayne Rooney's Contract Seriously

Manchester United's new chief executive Ed Woodward has spoken out about Wayne Rooney's current contract situation, stating that there are no contract renewals being discussed at the football club—something that, if it were true, should seriously worry all fans of the Red Devils.

Although we often hear far-fetched transfer rumors about EPL players in their summer break, there's rarely smoke without fire, and this attempt by Woodward at snuffing out the flames on Rooney's future at the club could only serve to spark more interest in the England star.

Rooney has two years left on his deal at Old Trafford, and he has fallen down the pecking order in United's striking options since the arrival of Robin Van Persie at the start of last season, fighting for a place in the team with Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez.

Rooney did meet at Old Trafford earlier this month for talks with new manager David Moyes, and although Moyes has repeatedly said that Rooney is a major part of his plans, Rooney has continued to stay silent. 

This situation is not all too dissimilar to 2010, when the striker said he would leave the club, before signing a massive five-year deal just two days later.

In terms of this current debacle, it all seemed to start when Rooney was left out of the starting 11 of United's Champions League round of 16 second leg match with Real Madrid.

Not too long after, Sir Alex Ferguson revealed that "Wazza" had handed in a transfer request. Sir Alex has now left Old Trafford, and it seems more and more that the player he signed in 2004 will be following suit. 

The England international has scored 141 goals for United, still averaging better than a goal every game, and interest in Rooney from Arsenal, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid is well documented.

Despite many thinking Wayne's ability peaked early in his career and is maybe past his best years, he is still a player who can improve almost any team in world soccer.

With only two years left on his contract, Rooney already has all the power in terms of deciding his future.

Unless the Premier League champions act quickly with coming to a resolution on this issue, he will either leave the club for much less than his market value—maybe even for free—or United will have to entice him into staying with an even more expensive deal than he already has.

With time ticking away and the new season fast approaching, now is as good a time as any to get an end result out of all of this; they either come to an agreement with Rooney, or they announce that he's available at a premium price.