Soccer

“Angry and confused” Wayne Rooney looks to be on his way out of Manchester United

Striker took exception to David Moyes saying he was now second-choice striker

Wayne Rooney: “angry and confused” over his treatment by his manager. Photograph: Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters
Wayne Rooney: “angry and confused” over his treatment by his manager. Photograph: Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters
TROWE
Wed Jul 17 2013 - 01:00

Wayne Rooney’s Manchester United career appears to be over.

Rooney is understood to be fuming at comments made by United’s manager, David Moyes, at the weekend which suggested he was now regarded as a second-choice striking option behind Robin van Persie.

Rooney has taken that as a personal slight on a player who has given nine years’ service to the Old Trafford cause and is “angry and confused” about his treatment.

The offending words were delivered to journalists during a briefing with Moyes in Bangkok last week.

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Moyes said: “Overall, my thought on Wayne is that if for any reason we had an injury to Robin van Persie we are going to need him and I want as many options as possible.”

It has been widely interpreted as Moyes stating he regards Rooney as an understudy to the prolific Dutchman and, understandably, that has gone down very badly.


Unhappiness
A source close to the situation has highlighted Rooney's unhappiness. As far as the 27-year-old is concerned, he is at the peak of his career and has no intention of playing second fiddle to anyone or being reduced to the ranks of becoming a squad player.

With four Premier League titles and a Champions League winners’ medal to his name, Rooney does not believe he has anything to prove at United.

Yet he feels as though he has been put on trial by Moyes at a time when he should be concentrating his efforts on recovering from the hamstring injury that saw him sent home from United’s pre-season tour within hours of landing in Thailand on Thursday.

“Wayne is confused and angry”, said the source. United are aware of Rooney’s feelings and once Moyes and the chief executive, Ed Woodward, wake up this morning in Sydney, they will come under pressure to clarify their position.

Woodward said last week that he was relaxed about Rooney’s contract situation, the striker having two seasons to run on his deal.

“There are no contract renewals that are being discussed,” he said. “I am not sitting down with any player on an extension and there is no trigger date in the diary. Would we be afraid to run a contract down? Of course not.”