Manchester United Transfer Rumours: Club Must Finalize Wayne Rooney Saga

No matter what Manchester United do with Wayne Rooney, it is vital to end the issue as soon as possible.

The saga that started before the end of last season has carried into the summer and is now in danger of affecting the upcoming season. The longer this continues, the harder it will be for the club to defend its Premier League title.

United hoped that this circus would go away after declaring that he is not for sale, which the club did once again this week by rejecting Chelsea's latest offer, according to Sky Sports. A team spokesman stated, "A bid was received on Sunday and immediately rejected. Our position remains that he is not for sale."

Unfortunately, things have just deteriorated from there. Daniel Taylor of The Guardian reports that Rooney is ready to take the initiative and present a formal transfer request to force a move to go through.

A "shoulder injury" that will keep him out of the upcoming friendly is certainly sending a message that he does not have to play if he does not want to. Even if the ailment is real, new manager David Moyes does not want an unhappy superstar on his squad in his first year with the club.

Additionally, this situation has negatively affected the rest of the team, according to Ian Herbert of The Independent:

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An impression is also being given that Rooney’s relationship with some of the senior players in the United dressing room – [Rio] Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs and Patrice Evra – is becoming strained, amid those players’ concerns that their pleas with him to stay at United have been ignored. The sense of a dressing-room rift serves Rooney well in his attempts to prove that his position at the club is untenable.

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Whether this dressing-room issue was planned or not, it is clear that there is a problem.

Moyes and the rest of management want to make a point that no player is bigger than the organization and that he should not be able to dictate any moves himself. However, it is distracting the club and is hurting its ability to prepare for the year.

How are the players or manager supposed to plan for the upcoming season if it is unknown who will be on the roster?

This is why it is better to finalize transfers as soon as possible in the summer to help increase cohesion on the pitch. United have not done that, and it is going to hurt them.

Instead of sending a message by keeping Rooney, management must keep that same mindset that no one is bigger than the club by selling him as soon as possible. This would allow the rest of the team to get back to normal focus going forward.

Obviously, it is never ideal to sell one of the most talented players on the roster (just ask Tottenham). However, the point has been reached where there are simply no other options besides looking for the best deal possible.

The club should try to work for a player-for-player swap to help improve for next season or at least get enough to make a strong bid for another star.

Either way, the key is to complete a deal quickly before any more damage is caused to the squad. 

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