Wayne Rooney might have been enjoying the atmosphere at Glastonbury Festival yesterday, but there’s likely to be a much somber mood when he sits down with David Moyes for their first meeting next week. The United striker is thought to have handed in a transfer request towards the end of last season, but reports suggest that the former Everton manager is keen to keep Rooney at Old Trafford.
Rooney monopolises the football pages on the Sunday papers, with the Mirror reporting that Arsenal have made a £20m offer for the United striker, who is still considered a prize asset by the United board, which made its position abundantly clear by declaring that Rooney was “not for sale”.
The Mirror reports that Arsenal’s bid is likely to force Chelsea into bidding for the United striker themselves, despite Jose Mourinho edging ever closer to sign Edinson Cavani. A bidding war between the two London rivals, as unlikely as it might sound, could see United ending with a considerable profit, were they to sanction Rooney’s sale.
The Telegraph and the Mail follows the same line, confirming the £20m bid and reporting that Rooney is determined to set the record straight with Moyes and the media by formally denying any claims regarding his transfer request which, says the Mail, “Rooney feels could ruin his relationship with fans.”
The Sun, however, has a completely different take on the issue and goes as far as claiming that Rooney and David Moyes have already met in a secret meeting but the obligatory insider was all too happy to reveal some details to the tabloid (about a meeting which is more than likely to have never taken place, anyway):
“There is little doubt the new boss wants to keep Wayne. Any suggestions the two don’t get on is complete rubbish.
“It was an amicable meeting but it gave Wayne the chance to get a lot of things off his chest.
“He’s always denied handing in a transfer request and like all top players, he was upset to be dropped, especially for the Real Madrid match.”
In other transfer news, the Mail reports that United’s spending spree has hit a stumbling block before it even began, with Benfica determined not to let Ezequiel Garay go for less than £20m – something which complicates things enormously given that his former club, Real Madrid, are entitled to a 50% sell-on fee – while Thiago’s head might have been turned by Barcelona’s offer of a new deal worth £100,000-a-week.
Meanwhile, David Irvine, David Moyes’ long time number 2 at Everton believes that the former Everton manager will be a success at United.
“David is extremely hard working and thorough. He leaves nothing to chance. He is always concerned about the fine details and will think things through carefully before he makes decisions,” Irvine told the Daily Mail.
“Training will be well prepared and he will continually question what he is doing and try to find the best way of working with a new group of players.
“He will spend a lot of time listening and speaking to people. Whatever the result of a match, he will look for ways for himself and the team to improve.
“If he is not over-happy with something, he will ask the players to work it out on the training pitch. Despite the perception, he will do as much work on the attacking side as the defending.”
