GARY Neville believes Wayne Rooney could one day beat Sir
Bobby Charlton's scoring record for Manchester United.
Rooney has not even reached the halfway point in the chase to reach
Charlton's milestone of 249.
However, he did take his current tally to 102 with his crucial
penalty against Arsenal on Saturday, leaving the 23-year-old 18th
on the all-time list behind such notables as Ruud van Nistelrooy
and Cristiano Ronaldo, who found the net on 118 occasions.
Of his present team-mates, both Ryan Giggs - who eclipsed
Charlton's appearance record in the 2008 Champions League final -
and Paul Scholes have both scored more often.
But Rooney does have time on his side and, having pledged his
long-term future to the club he joined from Everton as an
18-year-old in 2004, the £27million star could get much
closer.
"There is a long time to go before he gets there but Wayne does
have an opportunity to beat Bobby Charlton's scoring record," said
Neville.
Neville view
"He will have to play a lot more games and stay clear of injury
because that record has stood for many years and will be very
difficult to break.
"But a player of his ability should score goals. He plays
centre-forward for Manchester United. That points you in the right
direction."
United will hope Rooney returns from England duty unscathed
because, having stuck to his pledge not to make any late purchases
in the transfer window, Ferguson has placed his trust in the
Merseysider to provide United's attacking thrust over the next few
months.
Ferguson has more of his first-team squad around than usual during
an international break, with Rio Ferdinand continuing his fight for
fitness alongside Giggs, Neville, Scholes, Michael Owen, Anderson
and Tomasz Kuszczak, all of whom will come into contention for the
tricky encounter with Tottenham on September 12.