Moyes tight-lipped over Rooney’s future

Manchester United manager David Moyes Thursday avoided
talking about the burning question of Wayne Rooney’s playing
future, but club legend Bryan Robson insisted the star striker
was “not for sale”.
Moyes, preparing the Red Devils for Saturday’s pre-season
match against Australia’s A-League All Stars, remained tight-
lipped about the Rooney transfer speculation at an official
team lunch in Sydney.
Jose Mourinho has launched his new reign at Chelsea with a
sensational offer for Rooney, saying in Bangkok where his
team is on tour that the bid, for a reported 10 million pounds
(11.5 million euros, $15.1 million), was “clean” and “ethical”.
But United’s longest-serving
captain said the club was
firm in its refusal to part
ways with Rooney, who is
back in England after leaving
the Red Devils in Bangkok
with a hamstring injury just a
few hours into their pre-
season tour.
“David Moyes has said
Wayne Rooney is not for
sale. As far as we’re
concerned, that’s the end of
it,” Robson told reporters in
Sydney, where he is
accompanying the team.
The former England
midfielder added that the ongoing speculation about Rooney
had not distracted the team from their pre-season
preparations.
“They’re getting on with training. Unfortunately Wayne got the
hamstring strain, which he didn’t want — you don’t want any
of your top players out at this stage of the pre-season. But it
hasn’t been a disruption to the other boys,” he said.
Former United strikers Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, also
accompanying the Red Devils in Australia, said they want
Rooney to stay at Old Trafford.
”I’d love him to stay — and I think everyone wants him to
stay,” Cole said.
”But now we’re going to get asked this question again and
again until it’s resolved. Wayne is a fantastic player, and
we’re all hoping he stays. Every Manchester United supporter
hopes he’ll be at Old Trafford next season.”
Despite the rising swell of talk about a transfer away, Yorke
believes Rooney will see out his contract under Moyes.
”There’s nothing to feel bad about — except that he’s not
here in Australia and had to go home and get treatment for
his injury,” he said.
”We all know the speculation, we all know the talk, and that’s
what happens when you’re a big player. But I believe he’ll be
a Manchester United player for the next two years.” AFP