The Wayne Rooney - Man U SagaFor those of you who have not seen or heard what has been happening at Old Trafford, click the links below for further info.
http://www.goal.com/en/news/3194/video/2010/10/19/2173129/video-sir-alex-fergusons-confirms-wayne-rooneys-decision-to-quit-
http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2010/10/20/2175116/wayne-rooney-confirms-he-wants-to-leave-manchester-united
http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2010/10/22/2177984/wayne-rooney-signs-new-five-year-contract-to-end-manchester
Now that everyone is back on track, it has been a pretty exciting 4 days this past week. The way it was panning out, I would never had guessed Rooney would sign a 5 year contract extension with United. Even a friend of mine, who is a Man U fan, made a comment to me about the situation when we were talking about Gareth Bale's performance against Inter Milan in their Champions League clash this week. He said "The chances of Gareth Bale signing with AC Milan are worse than Manchester United extending Wayne Rooney's contract!" In a round about way, I felt he was right. Not about Gareth Bale signing with AC Milan (because I still have hope), but about the little chance Man U had on extending Rooney's contract.
For these 3 days I have been telling everyone that Wayne Rooney will have a new club in January without a doubt. Manchester City was my personal pick to pen the 24 year old striker as I felt Real Madrid and AC Milan, two front runners to get his signature, had no room at all on their squad list's. And if Manchester City were able to grab hold of Rooney, it would have been one of the most controversial and exciting signings of the year. Just think, Wayne Rooney joins Manchester City F.C., cross town rivals of Manchester United F.C.. This would be equivalent to Paolo Maldini joining Inter Milan from AC Milan, or Lionel Messi joining Real Madrid from Barcelona. It would be one of the biggest moves without a doubt.
So, with the decision made, the contract signed and all parties happy, I feel Wayne Rooney should have made the leap and left Manchester United in January.
For starters, he really has nothing else to prove there and is in a similar situation Cristiano Ronaldo was in 2 years ago before joining Real Madrid.
Secondly, as I said before, if he so happened to join Manchester City, it would be one of the biggest moves of the year. The thought of Wayne Rooney in a Man City uniform gives me and probably many others goosebumps. And also the thought of next years Manchester Derby, well... You get the picture.
And lastly, I would have enjoyed seeing Wayne in a different uniform, whether it be Real Madrid, AC Milan or Manchester City, it would have been an exciting trip if he were to change area codes.
Cheers,
JC
