Please buy Rooney
.
.
Although the offer would fall far short of the expected
£35 million bid by Manchester City, sources suggested on Tuesday
night that
Chelsea believe they may be favourites to secure
the
Manchester
United striker because Sir Alex Ferguson would
rather sell to them.
Indeed it is understood that
Chelsea have been closely tracking
Rooney's
situation for several months after being alerted that he may not be
happy at Old Trafford and was open to the idea of leaving with less
than two years on his contract.
Real Madrid are the only other club seriously in the running to
sign the 24 year-old, but it is uncertain what kind of offer they
are considering, especially as they would prefer to wait until the
summer before making a move.
United will make it clear to all suitors that they want to do a
deal sooner than that. This is largely because the value of striker
will have diminished by the end of the season, when he will enter
the final year of his contract, and also because Ferguson has
decided he wants the player to leave as soon as possible to cause
minimum disruption.
Although Rooney is, according to sources, "100 per cent sure he
wants to move" and is prepared to join City, who will also offer
him by far the biggest wages, he is believed to be keen on
Chelsea.
Ferguson, who has been given a mandate to sell by United's
American owners the Glazers, would ideally prefer Rooney to leave
the Premier League and move abroad.
Real are the most likely to make an offer and there are
undoubtedly players, particularly Karim Benzema and Kaka, in whom
United would be interested, especially as it is understood that a
straight cash deal would involve a large portion of the money going
to Everton as a sell-on fee, believed to be 25 per cent of any
profit United make on Rooney.
Real have already made it known that they are looking to offload
certain players, and that list includes Lassana Diarra and Fernando
Gago. However, Rooney has also indicated he would rather stay in
England.
Chelsea's interest in Rooney is long-standing and manager Carlo
Ancelotti, who is pushing for the signing, is an avowed fan, having
praised the striker last season for his performances. On the eve of
Chelsea's Champions League tie against Spartak Moscow, Ancelotti
admitted he would be interested.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is, according to sources close to
him, still hoping to sign Fernando Torres having had a
long-standing interest in the Liverpool striker.
A bid was lodged in the summer, and although this fell below
Liverpool's valuation, the club's plight, and the Spaniard's
unhappiness, may lead to Chelsea making a renewed offer in the next
transfer window.
It is not beyond the realms of possibility that they could bid
for both Rooney and Torres, with one source suggesting on Tuesday
that this was "Roman's dream".
Quite where that would leave Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka
remains to be seen, although Chelsea are acutely aware that they
will have to eventually replace their main strikers, who are both
over 30.
The likelihood is that Chelsea will not offer enough for Rooney
to convince United to sell to them, rather than City. It will also
be difficult to persuade Abramovich to increase his bid given the
player's contract situation and the personal problems he has
faced.
He will want to drive a hard bargain for Rooney, who could buy
himself out of the final year of his deal for about £5 million next
summer. "Why would someone pay the market rate right now?" one
source said on Tuesday night.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp alluded to this on Tuesday
night when he said: "It's an amazing situation that Rooney could
become a free agent, someone who is worth £50-60 million.
"He's in a situation whereby if he does not want to sign a
contract then in 18 months he is a free agent. He's in a position
where if someone gives him personally £30 million then he is still
a cheap player. He can go down that road and Man United can do
nothing about it."
