Wayne Rooney Wants To Leave Manchester United, but Can They Afford To Lose Him?

Wayne Rooney wants to leave Manchester United, but can Sir Alex Ferguson and the Red Devils get by without him? In his current form, yes.

However form is only temporary, class is permanent and there is no doubt that Wayne Rooney has all the class in the world.

Manchester United are not the force they once were. A big reason for that is the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo, sold in the summer to Real Madrid, and a lack of stability at the back. In the title winning seasons of recent years Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez and Berbatov provided the goals and Ferdinand and Vidic kept things solid at the back.

Take Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez away and factor in an injury prone Ferdinand and shaky looking Vidic and all of a sudden you have a very ordinary side.

Yes, you still have the evergreen Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs running the show in midfield, Nani progressing nicely now he is out from under Ronaldo’s shadow and the emergence of some talented youngsters in Hernandez, Rafael and Gibson. But Scholes and Giggs cannot play every week and as good as the youngsters are, as has been shown at Arsenal, you need more than just good talent to win trophies.

With the current inability to keep clean sheets, even to keep hold of two-goal leads, and the lack of options up front, the potential loss of Rooney casts a very large shadow over the potential of this United side’s ability to challenge on all fronts this season.

Should the worst happen and Rooney refuse to play or even be sold in the January transfer window, can you really see Berbatov and Hernandez carrying the burden for United all season. We have already seen one of United’s more creative players suffer injury—Antonio Valencia.

Should a couple more key injuries occur all of a sudden we are looking at a United side that may even struggle to qualify for the Champions League next season.

Chelsea may look almost unstoppable but Manchester City and Arsenal have shown they have more than enough to challenge to the end this year and Tottenham are looking increasingly good for the top four finish they achieved last season. No one would put it past them achieving that again if their injuries can abate.

The big question hanging over the topic now that Sir Alex Ferguson has officially confirmed that Wayne Rooney wants to leave United is how should United handle the situation? Play him in the hope he will reignite his form and passion for the club? Let him rot in the reserves and then sell him at the next available opportunity?

Can United afford to do the latter? One would suggest that United need him more than he needs United.

Will Sir Alex risk playing an out of sort Rooney who does not want to play for the club anymore? In seasons gone by Van Nistelrooy, Beckham, Stam and Keane have all felt the wrath of Sir Alex when a disagreement has been reached. They were all quickly sold on and arguably on every occasion Ferguson has been proven correct to do so. The difference being this time United do not have the abundance of talent in their squad that they have had in the past.

Alternatively the other option available for United is to sell as soon as possible to get as much value for their prized asset as possible. United’s problems off the field have been well documented and with yearly interest payments on the debt estimated to be in the region of £70m to £80m can they really afford to let an asset such as Rooney slip away for free when his contract expires in 2012? Probably not.

It will prove a difficult decision for the United board and Sir Alex. Give Rooney a chance to prove his worth and help United challenge for honours this season or let him go, maximising his value to help service the debt but risk a trophy less season or dare I say it—missing out on the Champions League altogether?