Manchester United 3 Dinamo Bucharest 0Manchester United are set to deny Newcastle United in their pursuit of Wayne Rooney after the long-anticipated bidding war to sign the England striker erupted.
Although United's opening bid of £20 million, which matched that of Newcastle on Monday, was swiftly rejected by the Everton chairman Bill Kenwright last night, their interest will be stepped up today with the eight-times Premiership champions aware that Rooney favours a move to Old Trafford rather than Tyneside.
Newcastle claimed to have lifted their own bid to £23.5 million last night, though it is still likely to prove insufficient to secure the 18-year-old's signature. Everton continue to value the striker at nearer £30 million and, while they remain braced for an increased offer from United today, confirmation of Alex Ferguson's interest may leave them resigned to lowering that price tag, if only marginally.
The pulling power of Old Trafford is likely to prove decisive. United, sparked by Newcastle's bid, faxed a formal offer to Kenwright at 5.0 p.m. yesterday, intending to spread the £20 million fee over the course of the player's five-year contract.
"We've made a bid today," said Ferguson. "He's a fabulous player. He showed that at Euro 2004 and he's a young player, too. He's not the finished article yet, but we've got experience of bringing young players to the club and bringing them on."
David Moyes, who attended last night's Champions League qualifier, has dismissed Newcastle's £20 million offer as inadequate, basing his valuation of the player on the £24 million spent by Chelsea to sign the 26-year-old Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba from Marseille in the summer. "Wayne's price should be well more than that," said Moyes. "Wayne is English and, if you want to buy English, you have to pay a higher premium. We don't want to lose him but, if we do, the only way is at the top price and the value we want."
Rooney may have been the talk before last night's qualifier but two hours later the chatter was all about another new striker - Alan Smith.
The £7 million buy from Leeds steered United into the lucrative group stages of the Champions League, that could generate £15 million, with a couple of clinical finishes.
American youngster Jonathan Spector was drafted in at the back to replace the injured Keane and another starlet Chris Eagles was given his head in midfield.
Experienced campaigners Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes were both on the bench with United aiming to build on a 2-1 advantage against the Romanians. Gary Neville took the captain's armband in the absence of Keane. Smith was the lone striker although the bonus for Ferguson was the re-appearance of Louis Saha on the bench after a knee injury.
United needed only a minute into the second period to go 1-0 ahead and there was a stroke of good fortune about the goal. Kleberson's free kick spun off Iordache and into the path of Smith only two yards out. He smashed the ball home only for Markus Merk to check with his assistant who had raised his flag before giving the goal.
There was no fluke about Smith's second three minutes later when he knocked the ball in following a cross from Gary Neville. Substitute David Bellion added a third in the 69th minute.
MANCHESTER UTD: Howard, Gary Neville (Phil Neville 55), Spector, Silvestre, O'Shea, Eagles, Kleberson, Djemba-Djemba, Fletcher, Ronaldo (Richardson 64), Smith (Bellion 63). Subs not used: Saha, Giggs, Carroll, Scholes. Booked: Eagles. Goals: Smith 47, 50, Bellion 70.
DINAMO BUCHAREST: Cristian Munteanu, Irimia, Iordache, Galamaz, Semeghin, Petre (Balan 67), Margaritescu, Naidin, Grigorie (Pacurar 45), Danciulescu, Niculescu (Serban 80). Subs not used: Hayeu, Ciobotariu, Baltoi, Goian. Booked: Galamaz.
Referee: Markus Merk (Germany).
