Wayne Rooney Reportedly Ready to Leave Manchester United
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney is reportedly ready to leave the club in search of more frequent playing time.
According to Simon Jones and Chris Wheeler for the Daily Mail, the 31-year-old "is unhappy with a reduced role under [manager] Jose Mourinho" and is set to call time on his 13-year career at Old Trafford.
The report also said a Chinese Super League club offered Rooney a whopping annual salary of £35 million ahead of their transfer window's closure next Tuesday, although it's unlikely he will leave United this month. Former club Everton are also said to be interested in a transfer.
"The writing is on the wall for Wayne," a source told Jones and Wheeler. "He can see what's happening. He's playing less and believes he still has a lot to give. He won't want to continue here like this."
According to David McDonnell of the Daily Mirror, United have given Rooney the go-ahead to move to China, where he would become the highest-paid player in world football on £750,000 a week.
Neil Henderson of BBC News shared a look at the publication's reporting:
On Tuesday, Mourinho refused to guarantee that Rooney would be at the club come the end of the season.
"Of course I can't guarantee," the Portuguese said, per the initial source. "I cannot guarantee that I'm here next week; how can I guarantee that a player is here next season?"
He added: "I don’t want him to leave."
Rooney has only made eight Premier League starts this campaign, with the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the rise of Marcus Rashford pushing him down the pecking order at Old Trafford. The forward has missed the last four matches for United with an injury.
Should Rooney depart the Red Devils, he'd do so as a legendary figure for the club. Not only did he recently become United's all-time top goalscorer with a sublime free-kick at Stoke City—his 250th in total for the club—he's won the Premier League five times, the FA Cup once and the UEFA Champions League in 2008.
A move to China would be lucrative for the England international, although as Football365 noted, the timing of the transfer would be odd given the competitions United are involved in:
Rooney remains a fine captain and has shown glimpses of quality in the games he's played this term. However, Mourinho is looking to build a dynamic, physical and hungry team at Old Trafford; the forward is no longer good enough to thrive in that kind of setup.
United may feel like the time is right to cash in too, especially if, as McDonnell suggested, they would be recouping around £30 million for his sale. And after breaking Sir Bobby Charlton's record, there's little else for this Red Devils icon to prove at the Theatre of Dreams.
