Thought all this stuff on Rooney's departure was all just hear-say and that it'd never happen but I'm not so sure now. No smoke without a fire and that.

I think it's about time a top English player that isn't past it moved abroad, and I think he'd be a hit in Spain.

I'd noticed a few of the rags running stories of this ilk but obviously I don't pay them any attention. The Guardian on the other hand... yikes.

If this comes to pass it really will put United in disarray. A Ronaldo-esque sale of Rooney with only a small percentage reinvested in the team would leave them in need of major rebuilding - probably in a weaker position than us (though Fabregas leaving might even things up!). They've already got a bunch of aging key players and a hole in central midfield to deal with without adding a Rooney replacement to the list.

Fingers crossed

hah, wouldn't Tevez just love that.

Interesting. Does indeed look as though he's on his way out, but where? Barca can't afford/wouldn't need him, would Real go for him?

If he goes to another English club, I can only see him fitting in with the chavs. That would be horrible.

Might have criticised him at points in the past, but, I'd absolutely love it if Rooney left United. Don't think he'd have a hope in hell of cutting it abroad, though. There's just no way on earth - I've heard it said in a few different places that he's struggled badly at times with the change from Liverpool to Manchester.

Still can't see it happening though.

What if we bought him...

Don't think you'd find many complaining, he's a quality, quality footballer.

Yes indeed.

Never going to happen though, for a multitude of reasons unless of course he tried to force the move himself, which just wouldn't happen. I see little reason why Rooney would want to join us.

Swap with Benzema? To be honest, so long as he leaves the Premiership, this is good news for us.

Rooney will only go if ferguson can get mad money. Only team that can do that is Real Madrid. They might even send someone like Benzema or Higuain in the other direction. Maybe by then, one of di Maria or Ozil makes himself dispensible.

Just the last couple of weeks it has been evident that things were deeply screwed.

If Rooney becomes a misfit there's a very strong incentive to immediately ship him out for maximum cash. Only 18 months left on his contract. There are very few clubs he can go to in England, and he might struggle abroad.

What a mess. This undermines Ferguson hugely.

if fergie gets this wrong, it's not inconceivable to see things get really liverpool really fast at old trafford. what's a united team without giggs, scholes and rooney? berbatov, nani, valencia, fletcher, anderson, park, hernandez isn't much better than what spurs have got. the club is already in the red due to their massive interest payments, so any disruption to their revenue flow could be devastating. and you have to think fergie will be retiring soon, and even if mourinho replaces him, will he have the transfer funds that he's used to?

Mind you Berbetov has really stepped up since Rooney's been rubbish.

Kamikaze, you raise a good point. With Giggs and Scholes on the way out, United are in trouble. Being cash-strapped, Ferguson might actually see the value in dumping Rooney and rebuilding. If he is able to fleece Madrid for Benzema and 40 million pounds, then he can turn that 40 million into two solid midfielders. If the club were planning to keep Rooney, I am sure the Glazers would give Ferguson a good chunk of the proceeds from a Rooney sale. The Ronaldo money, I suspect, was initially kept to beautify the balance sheet ahead of the bond issue.

Ricky1985 wrote:

Might have criticised him at points in the past, but, I'd absolutely love it if Rooney left United. Don't think he'd have a hope in hell of cutting it abroad, though. There's just no way on earth - I've heard it said in a few different places that he's struggled badly at times with the change from Liverpool to Manchester.

Still can't see it happening though.

His move from Everton to Man U came when he was still just a kid though, not to mention with all the expectation in the world on his shoulders.

I think getting away from England would probably do him the world of good, not least for his private life.

Don't know how much trouble United are in long term - realistically they will probably remain top cats revenue wise even if they take a dip during an indifferent period.

But if this gets a bit more out of control it could be the start of a series of events that sees Ferguson eventually retiring. Been looking forward to that for a good fifteen years or so.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/9101905.stm

This is becoming a reality now. Personally, I think he's dealt with this like an idiot. Ferguson has done a lot for him and has tried to protect him of late whilst he just throws it back in his face.

There does seem to be something going on behind the scenes but as of yet there's nothing to suggest he won't sign a new deal other than reports in the media. Until I see a genuine quote I hardly ever take reports seriously and at the moment, whilst it's possible he may be shipped off due to contract disputes, it is still very unlikely to happen in my opinion. That said, I'd absolutely love to see him shipped off abroad for a cut price fee, however unrealistic it may be.