Fal guy? Manchester United's move for Radamel Falcao places Rooney's future in fresh doubt
Fal guy? Manchester United's move for Radamel Falcao places Rooney's future in fresh doubt
Champions-elect are reportedly already talking to Atletico
Madrid about £50m-rated striker who's been linked with rivals Man City
and Chelsea
One in, one out? Paris Saint-Germain's owner is a Rooney fan
PA
Manchester United have made it a three-way Premier League battle to
sign Atletico Madrid's £50million-rated striker Radamel Falcao. United's interest in the 27-year-old will place another question over the future of Wayne Rooney, who could find himself offloaded at the end of the season.
Despite
Falcao having a buy-out clause of £50m in his current contract, United
believe they could land the in-demand striker for around £35m this
summer - ahead of Manchester City and Chelsea.
Reports
in Spain claim preliminary discussions have begun between Atletico and
United over a potential deal for the South American star.
Falcao
is represented by Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes, whose clients include
current United players Anderson and Nani and their former star man
Cristiano Ronaldo, now at Real Madrid.
United believe their
relationship with Mendes can give them an edge in the pursuit of Falcao,
and help overcome the tricky issue of his ownership rights.
Atletico
paid £32m to sign the Colombia international from Porto two years ago,
but as much as half of that fee is said to have been provided by a
third-party investment fund which Mendes is part of.
Falcao has
plundered a remarkable 136 goals in 170 appearances for Porto and
Atletico in his four full seasons in Europe and is regarded as one of
the deadliest strikers in Europe.
Rooney, after a season which has
seen him score 16 goals but has been plagued by injury, illness and
indifferent form, could make way for Falcao. Mega-rich Paris Saint-Germain are ready to offer him a way out
with a £30m bid and although Ferguson has claimed there is no way
Rooney will be sold, a big offer for the 27-year-old could see him
leave.
Interestingly, Falcao is demanding less than half of the
Englishman's current £250,000-a-week wages - an important factor as
teams wrestle with the implications of Financial Fair Play. Click here to check out our La Liga expert's verdict on Falcao.
Meanwhile, Rooney has been warned by Kevin Keegan that he cannot consider himself indispensable to United.Rooney
has been a mainstay of United's team for the past nine years, his
status as an automatic pick never in doubt - until this season.
United's
interest in Falcao, coupled with Rooney's difficult season, has raised
fresh questions over the England forward's Old Trafford future.
Although
Keegan claimed Rooney's goal return this season represented a decent
campaign, the former England boss admitted the arrival of Robin van
Persie had shaken up the order at United.
Rooney was left out of the starting line-up in United's 2-1 home Champions League defeat to Real Madrid last month which saw them knocked out at the last 16 stage.
That
is further proof, said two-time European Footballer of the Year Keegan,
that no player can take their place for granted under Fergie.
"That
has come out numerous times, not just with Wayne. No-one is
indispensable," said Keegan. "United are not a one- man team and I don't
think they ever have been a one-man team in their successful years.
"One guy might have to get player of the year - that's going to happen - but one-man teams don't win anything.
"You need five or six top-class players to win something and they have got something - and Rooney is one of them."
Speaking at Soccerex in Manchester, Keegan added: "It doesn't matter what I think [about Rooney being left out against Real].
"Sir
Alex viewed it as tactically his best team on the night. And he was
proved right, but for a very poor decision by the referee [Nani's
dismissal] changed the game.
"We would have probably been talking
about a tactical masterstroke had Nani not been sent off and the game
had continued the way it was going.
"Up to that point, it had
worked. Danny Welbeck did a great job in there. So the message from
United, as it always has been, that no one player is bigger than the
club." On the Wayne: Fergie has seen Rooney struggle with form and fitness
Despite Ferguson's public insistence that Rooney will stay, PSG are poised to test that resolve with a summer bid.
The
French outfit are one of the few clubs in the world that could match
Rooney's wage demands, and only last week their Qatari president Nasser Al-Khelaifi admitted he would be interested in signing the player.
Rooney
has spent chunks of the season injured, out with various ailments or
beset by patchy form, and Ferguson has repeatedly made reference to the
fact the player needs several games following a spell out before he gets
up to speed.
But Keegan said: "People are saying Rooney's had a
hit and miss season, but how many goals has he got? I can remember
having great seasons for Liverpool and not getting 16 goals.
"So
what are you going to judge him on? Performance? I've seen games when he
has still carried United, but maybe now he doesn't have to do it every
week.
"That's maybe United's strength - not being reliant on one player. Maybe that's why Sir Alex bought van Persie. Red leader: Summer signing Van Persie is now United's main goal-scorer
Elisa Estrada
"And Wayne's best position for me is not right up front anyway. It's getting involved in the game form a deeper position.
"The
effect van Persie has had on Rooney is that United have won a
championship. Rooney is not playing second fiddle to van Persie.
"To
win things, you have to have more than one main striker. When United
were at their best during my time managing clubs was when they had
Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov.
"They
all used to come at you. When you're a mid-table team, you can manage
one, sometimes manage two. But when they have three or four, you run out
of good defenders."
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