It's solved.

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

Hughton''s search for a striker.

 

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/clubs/manchesterunited/article3707339.ece

 

Piece of pizz really, forget Hooper and the Wolfswinkel, Wayne''s on the way.

 

Seriously though, in the distant past such slightly over their peak stars such as Rooney might well have headed our way (eg. Royle, Chivers, Channon, Peters, O''Neill et.al.) to see out the last days of their career strolling around the Carrow Road pastures to our great pleasure, I might add. Nowadays they head for China, wages I suppose.

 

I do however feel that the article is slightly pre-emptive, that Rooney is not quite yet over the top (as last week-end showed), that he has a least a couple of seasons left at Manure and that we will have to wait a bit longer before see Wayne punching his weight on our patch and Waynette sunning herself on the sands of Cromer. In my dreams (the former image that is, not the latter.)

 

If it''s not, and Fergie is true to form,  then he could well be back to Everton for a while, before heading east.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

Fergie has always been very good at moving players on at the right moment - people have often question his decision to sell certain players, but few have ever left Man United to go on and do better.

 

Despite the fact Rooney is 27, it is worth remembering he has play the same number of professional games as players a few years older than him due to him starting his career earlier than most (similar effects have been seen on players like Torres and Owen who have both seen earlier than expected collapses in their careers). Rooney has said before that the day after a game he can barely move for the first few hours after waking up - this is the kind of thing you would expect from a player coming towards the end of their career rather than reaching their peak. (Not that this is surprising given Wayne''s famously poor attitude towards his body over the summer).

 

The reason Rooney will probably stay at United for the next couple of season is more down to no other club wanting to spend the vast amount on wages that he is currently getting - Wayne pushed for a new, massive, contract at exactly the right moment last season but it has more than likely ruined his relationship with Ferguson. Roy Keane mentioned this before the Real Madrid game and I think he is spot on - Van Persie was brought in to take reduce the reliance Man U have on Rooney.

 

Wayne''s next moves will be interesting to see, on his day he is one of the best in the world - those days are just coming a little further inbetween than before.

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

You make some very  interesting points there Betnal Y. His next move, if at all soon, would clearly be mega.

 

My Rooney-Norwich connection was made in jest. The days when that type of player at that stage in their career would head our way are long gone, alas As you suggest, few could match his current contract nowadays, let alone us.

 

If he does go anywhere in the immediate future then it will likely be abroad, and the article mentioned Paris St. Germaine. Everton couldn''t afford him either these days, although it would be a nice touch and he would probably blossom once back ''home.'' The though of the pair of them struggling with their "voulez vous" and frog''s legs is quite amusing. There''s something of the parochial about our Wayne, as opposed to Beckham''s cosmopolitan talents.