Pigeonho
Well-Known Member
Re: Rooneys contract
How would I access the article to share it on facebook? It says a subscription is needed on the Times' websitedenislawsbackheel said:From today's Times.
A lovely read!
Overpaying Wayne Rooney is a major risk as champions suffer from their errors
by Tony Evans
There is an uncharacteristic whiff of panic around Manchester United. They are used to the smell of fear at Old Trafford: just not their own.
The post-Ferguson era has been one of uncertainty and disappointment. Now, an element of farce has crept in. To pay Wayne Rooney in the region of £300,000 per week when the forward’s production over the past three years has not warranted this sort of pay rise is bad enough. To commit to a contract that runs until 2019, when Rooney will be closing in on 34, is folly of the worst sort.
Rooney would be an asset to any team. He was never the “new Pelé” of Sven-Göran Eriksson’s imagination and is unlikely to be the World Cup explosive device of Roy Hodgson’s fantasies, but he is a high-class talent. It is not his fault that United have got themselves into such a muddle that they have turned him into a loss-leader. Without Champions League football to entice ambitious players to Old Trafford, the club hope that Rooney’s presence will convince wavering summer targets that United are a club worth joining.
The phrase “too much, too late” comes to mind.
Last summer, from a position of strength as champions, United made blunder after blunder. David Moyes, the new manager, was indecisive in the transfer market. Edward Woodward, the man who took over buying and selling from David Gill, was inexperienced. They chased unobtainable targets such as Cesc Fàbregas and failed miserably. The underwhelming window set the tone for a disappointing season. The Rooney deal will create an environment where overpaying will become standard and, if it does not buy a quick fix, United will find themselves in serious trouble.
What Moyes needed going into his first campaign was a group of new players who could not compare life under the new manager to Sir Alex Ferguson’s regime. Three or four top-class new boys would have changed the mindset of the squad and been a bulwark against any “good old days” carping. A year of decline will make it harder to bring in that sort of player.
The Rooney deal is meant to signal to the football world that United can still attract the best players. In January, the club signed Juan Mata from Chelsea for £37.1 million. These two bits of business are designed to show off the club’s ambition. They can be interpreted another way.
There was no queue of clubs beating on the Old Trafford door to sign Rooney. José Mourinho would have happily taken the striker to Stamford Bridge, but only on cut-price terms. With just over a year left on his present deal, it is hard to see anyone paying more than £25 million for Rooney. As for Mata, he was surplus to requirements at Chelsea. Neither man is in the top echelon of players. United will not be shopping in that market come the summer. Moyes’s only other player who comes anywhere near the top rank is Robin van Persie, a 30-year-old whose body fails too often and whose mind seems elsewhere.
They will have to spend big. Rooney’s wages up the inflationary ante across the heights of English football, but particularly for United. When Manchester City were trying to make the jump into the top four, they were forced to pay more in fees and salaries than the likes of United, Arsenal and Chelsea. But they were rewarded, helped by a clear perception that this was a club on the up. They were also able to operate without Financial Fair Play restrictions. Unless something drastic happens, United will be perceived differently: a team where the future is in the balance, and overspending now may have severe consequences.
Woodward was right this week when he said that United could survive a period outside the Champions League. One year would be comfortable. Two less so. Three years outside the elite would be dangerous. All those juicy endorsement deals pay less when the team drop out of Europe’s elite competition. In this context, an £86 million bet on Rooney seems rash. Panic buying and panic selling are one thing. Panic keeping may turn out to be even worse.